One of the pages of the Slovak history is devoted to the city of Banská Štiavnica. This wonderful city is located in the southern part of Central Slovakia, south-west of Zvolen over the Štiavnica.
Banská Štiavnica is famous for its "gold" history. An interesting legend is the proof of this. Ones there lived and old man who was a shepherd. One day he found two lizards basking in the sun, gold and silver. Frightened the men, they hid under the stone, where the happy shepherd found the nuggets of pure gold and silver. Since then, and to this day lizards occupy honorable place in the city. They are stationed on its coat of arms and, moreover, the carnival is generally arranged annually in autumn. Miners fill the streets of the city, creating an entertaining demonstration, followed by the heroes of the occasion - gold and silver lizards.
On a specific historical facts, the Celts still in 2-1 centuries BC were engaged in excavating land here. This is supported by the archeological findings, namely biateki "coins", weighing 16 g. Later the Slavs living here went on the extraction of the noble metals. Banská Štiavnica went through all the times: economic upturn and the difficult times of war. In 1627 gunpowder was used for crushing of rocks and water was pumped out of mines with the help of mechanical pumps. The first world’s School of Mines was opened here in 1771. But like all good things, precious metals stocks ended. Consequently, Banská Štiavnica lost its meaning. However, the city was subsequently declared a city-reserve. It has about 245 historical sites, 12 of them are cultural monuments. Since 1993 Banská Štiavnica got into the list of sites protected by UNESCO.
Now the tour to Banská Štiavnica promises the acquaintance with urban development. In one city intertwined Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque. Two castle fortress are some of the main sights of the city. The first – the Old Castle – is known since 13th century with its most important part, the temple of the Virgin Mary. The second fortress - New Castle – appeared due to Turks. It defended the residents of the city from the Turks in the 16th century. In 1710 – 1711 there was plague in the city that also left its trace in the form of a Plague Column at the Holy Trinity Square as a symbol of getting rid of it. The pride of Banská Štiavnica are historical monuments such as the Church of St. Catherine, Town Hall with the tower, the building of Maul, sacred buildings of Purgatory, Kammergoff. The gold mine of the 16th century attracts the tourists’ attention. Nowadays it is a museum. Here you can feel a miner if you down into the mine is a special uniform.
