The Štiavnica Mountains (also Štiavnické Mountains; , ) are a

volcanic A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often fo ...

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...

southern central

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

. They are part of Inner Western Carpathians and the Slovenské stredohorie Mountains. The area is protected by Štiavnica Mountains Protected Landscape Area. They are bordered by the Kremnica Mountains (''Kremnické vrchy'') in the north, Pliešovce and Krupina basins (''Krupinská kotlina'') in the east, Danubian Hills (''Podunajská pahorkatina'') in the south and Pohronský Inovec, Vtáčnik and Žiar Basin (''Žiarska kotlina'') in the west. The highest point is Sitno (1,009 m). Štiavnica Mountains are an immense

caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcanic eruption. An eruption that ejects large volumes of magma over a short period of time can cause significant detriment to the str ...

created by the collapse of an ancient volcano. Due to their volcanic origin, they are

mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2011): Mi ...

-rich, with around 140 kinds of minerals. In the past,

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

mining flourished in the area around the town of

Banská Štiavnica Banská Štiavnica (; ; , ) is a town in central Slovakia, in the middle of an immense caldera created by the collapse of an ancient volcano. For its size, the caldera is known as the Štiavnica Mountains. Banská Štiavnica has a population of ...

. From originally over 60 lakes called tajchy in Štiavnica Mountains, there are over 30 still existing today. Although they are now integrated in their natural environment, they were originally built as water reservoirs serving the mining industry, most of them in the 18th century.

External links

Štiavnica Mountains Protected Landscape Area
a
Slovakia.travelCentral Slovakia
Mountain ranges of Slovakia Mountain ranges of the Western Carpathians {{Slovakia-geo-stub