Banská Bystrica (, also known by other alternative names) is a city in 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 ...

, located on the Hron River in a long and wide valley encircled by the mountain chains of the Low Tatras, the

Veľká Fatra Veľká Fatra (; also Great Fatra or Greater Fatra; ) is a mountain range in the Western Carpathians in Slovakia. The Veľká Fatra lie to the southeast of the better known Malá Fatra, Malá (Lesser) Fatra mountains and are less developed, as we ...

, and the Kremnica Mountains. With approximately 76,000 inhabitants, Banská Bystrica is the sixth most populous municipality in Slovakia. The present-day town was founded by German settlers, invited by the Hungarian Árpád-kings, during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

(as part of the '' Ostsiedlung''), however it was built upon a former Slavic/ Slovakian/ Avar settlement. It became a part of Zolyom county after the Hungarian conquest. During the reign of

Béla IV of Hungary Béla IV (1206 – 3 May 1270) was King of Hungary and King of Croatia, Croatia between 1235 and 1270, and Duke of Styria from 1254 to 1258. As the oldest son of Andrew II of Hungary, King Andrew II, he was crowned upon the initiative of a group ...

it obtained the municipal privileges of a free royal town of the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

in 1255 and resettled with Germans from Thüringen. The copper mining town acquired its present picturesque look in the

late Middle Ages The late Middle Ages or late medieval period was the Periodization, period of History of Europe, European history lasting from 1300 to 1500 AD. The late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period ( ...

when the prosperous burghers built its central churches, mansions, and fortifications. It is the capital of the ''

kraj A '' Kraj'' ( ''kraje'') is the highest-level administrative unit in the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. For lack of other English expressions, the Slavic term is often translated as "province", "region", or "territory", although it ...

'' (more specifically

Banská Bystrica Region The Banská Bystrica Region (, ; , ) is one of the eight regions of Slovakia. It is the largest of the eight regions by area, and has a lower population density than any other region. The Banská Bystrica Region was established in 1923; its bord ...

) and the ''

okres Okres (Czech language, Czech and Slovak language, Slovak term meaning "district" in English; from German Kreis - circle (or perimeter)) refers to administrative entities in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It is similar to Landkreis in Germany or " ...

'' (

Banská Bystrica District Banská Bystrica District () is a district in the Banská Bystrica Region of central Slovakia. Until 1918, the area belonged to the county of Zvolen within the Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that ...

). It is also the home of Matej Bel University. As a historical town with an easy access to the surrounding mountains, Banská Bystrica is a popular winter and summer tourist destination.

Etymology

The Slovak name Banská Bystrica includes two roots: the adjective ''Banská'' from Slovak ''baňa'' – "mine", and the name of the local river ''Bystrica'' (from Slavic ''bystrica'' – "swift stream"). The name of the town in also comes from the ''Beszterce'' stream (from the Slavic name of the stream, ''Bystrica''), and the suffix ''bánya'' is connected to the mines of the town. The river lent its name to the town as early as 1255 when the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

name ''Villa Nova Bystrice'' (meaning "New Town of ''Bystrica''") was recorded in the document in which King

granted the town royal privileges. Several variations of ''Bystrica'' (Byztherze, Bystrice, Bystrzice etc.) were then regularly used without the adjective identifying it as a mining town until the late 16th century. Although the first written record of the name ''Byzterchebana'' dates from 1263, it was rarely used afterwards. The Old German name ''Neusohl'' ("New Zvolen") (first recorded in 1300) and later its Latin version (''Neosolium'') reflected the fact that some early settlers came from the nearby town of Zvolen (at the time known in German as ''Altsohl'', literally "Old Zvolen"). The two names have been used in parallel and even complementary (as in ''Novizolii Bistriciensis'') throughout the history of the town. In the late 16th century the use of the mining adjective became more frequent (as in ''Bystrzicze na baniech'' or ''Bystricze Banska'', both from 1530). This evolution resulted in the current form of the name, first recorded in 1773 as ''Banska Bystrica''. In the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

, the German name ''Neusohl'' was used until the compromise of 1867, when the Hungarian name ''Besztercebánya'' became the official one. The parallel use of Slovak or German names in the written record did not, however, cease in this period. ''Banská Bystrica'' became the official name of the town in 1920.

History

The earliest history of Banská Bystrica was connected to the exploitation of its abundant deposits of copper (and to a lesser extent of silver, gold, and iron). The tools used by prehistoric miners at the locality called Špania Dolina have been dated to 2000–1700 BC. People of the Lusatian culture built their settlements at Špania Dolina, Horné Pršany, Malachov, and Sásová. Ancient

hill fort A hillfort is a type of fortification, fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late Bronze Age Europe, European Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, Iron Age. So ...

locations are still reflected in the local

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''wikt:toponym, toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for ...

''Hrádok'', meaning "a small fort (later: castle)". The territory was inhabited by the Celtic tribe of the Cotini ( Púchov culture) in the 3rd century BC. The Germanic tribe of the

Quadi The Quadi were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people during the Roman era, who were prominent in Greek and Roman records from about 20 AD to about 400 AD. By about 20 AD they had a kingdom centred in the area of present-day western Slovakia, north ...

took over the place during the Roman Era, leaving for instance a

hoard A hoard or "wealth deposit" is an archaeological term for a collection of valuable objects or artifacts, sometimes purposely buried in the ground, in which case it is sometimes also known as a cache. This would usually be with the intention of ...

of silver artifacts in ''Netopierska jaskyňa'' (Bat Cave). The present city was built upon a former Slavic settlement. After the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin it was incorporated in the Zólyom county of the

. The first known stone church was built by Saxon immigrants in the then still independent settlement of Sásová in the first half of the 13th century, when the area belong to the king. According to Slovak archaeologists Banská Bystrica started as a permanent settlement in the 9th century. Other sources claim that due to the attack of Mongols, in 1243–44, the town ceased to exist. In 1255 King Béla IV granted Banská Bystrica extensive municipal privileges, in order to attract more skilled settlers. Descendants of the German immigrants to this and other counties became later known as the

Carpathian Germans Carpathian Germans (, or ''felvidéki németek'', , , ) are a group of Germans, ethnic Germans in Central and Eastern Europe. The term was coined by the historian :de:Raimund Friedrich Kaindl, Raimund Friederich Kaindl (1866–1930), originally ...

. The city flourished as a regional mining center. It built the Late Romanesque Church of the Virgin Mary in the second half of the 13th century. During the same period, Banská Bystrica obtained its own

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

inspired by the coat of arms of the ruling dynasty of the Árpáds, also used as the historical flag of the Kingdom of Hungary. The local craftsmen were organized in fifty

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular territory. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradespeople belonging to a professional association. They so ...

s, with the butchers' guild being the oldest. The affluent Fugger and Thurzo families founded the prosperous ''Ungarischer Handel'' company (German for "Hungarian Trade") in 1494. Depending mainly on the mines around Banská Bystrica, the company had become a leading world producer of copper by the 16th century. With the most sophisticated mining technologies in Europe, an advanced accounting system, and benefits including medical care for its 1,000 employees, ''Ungarischer Handel'' was one of the largest and most modern early-capitalist firms. An early record of the miners' industrial action is from 1526 when the City Council needed to take refuge within the confines of City Castle. The

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

's thrust northwards led the

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

to improve the city's fortifications with modern stone walls in 1589, but the Turks never occupied the region. Banská Bystrica became one of the foremost centers of the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

in the

in the 16th century. Later on, the city had to fight for its

religious freedom Freedom of religion or religious liberty, also known as freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice ...

guaranteed by the

Royal Charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...

against the ruling dynasty of the Austrian Roman Catholic Habsburgs, for its physical independence against the Ottoman Turks and for its self-governance against the Kingdom of Hungary's powerful magnates. In 1620, Prince Gabriel Bethlen of

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

, a Protestant, was elected King of Hungary by the Diet meeting at Banská Bystrica. The village of Radvaň, now a borough of Banská Bystrica, was granted the economically important right to hold annual fairs (''Radvanský jarmok'') in 1655. The fair was transferred to Banská Bystrica's main square in the 20th century. The copper deposits had been all but depleted by the 18th century, but new industries, such as

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

, paper, and textiles, developed. In 1766 the city became the capital of Zólyom county when Banská Bystrica also became the seat of a Roman Catholic bishopric (1776) and of several institutions of higher education.

Public services A public service or service of general (economic) interest is any service (economics), service intended to address the needs of aggregate members of a community, whether provided directly by a public sector agency, via public financing availab ...

expanded in the 19th century with the foundation of a permanent municipal hospital (1820), a municipal theater (1841), and a municipal museum (1889). The railway reached the town from Zvolen in 1873. After

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

lost the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Banská Bystrica along with the entire northern part of

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

was given to

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

by the peace treaty of Trianon in 1920. During World War II, Banská Bystrica became the center of anti-

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

opposition in Slovakia when the Slovak National Uprising, one of the largest anti-Nazi resistance events in Europe, was launched from the city on 29 August 1944. The insurgents were defeated on 27 October, and Banská Bystrica was briefly occupied by the German forces before it was liberated by Soviet and Romanian troops on 26 March 1945. After the war, Banská Bystrica became the administrative, economic, and cultural hub of central Slovakia. It has been a university town since the 1950s. Its largest Matej Bel University was founded in 1992.

Geography

Banská Bystrica lies at an altitude of

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

and covers an area of . It is about halfway between Slovakia's two largest cities, north-east from Slovakia's capital

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

and west of

Košice Košice is the largest city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary. With a population of approximately 230,000, Košice is the second-largest cit ...

. A chain of discrete suburbs and villages connects it with Zvolen, another major town to the south. Banská Bystrica is situated in the Hron River valley (). The Hron River curves through the city from the east to the south. The city nests among three mountain chains: the Low Tatras to the north-east, the

to the north-west, and the Kremnica Mountains to the west. All three are

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...

s because of their environmental value. Banská Bystrica hosts the headquarters of the Low Tatra National Park. Despite the proximity of these

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 ...

s, the local landscape is dominated by the much lower Urpín Mountain, , which is a popular place of recreation. Banská Bystrica lies in the north temperate zone and has a

continental climate Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm to hot summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in central and eastern parts of the three northern-tier continents (North America, Europe, and Asia), typi ...

with four distinct seasons. It is characterized by a significant variation between hot summers and cold, snowy winters.

Demographics

In 2013, the city had a total population of 79,368, making it the 6th-largest municipality in Slovakia in 2005. The population density was 790 per square kilometer in 2005. Banska Bystrica Benicky house coat of arms

Banska Bystrica Benicky house coat of arms

The population was spread out, with 13.2% under the age of 15, 68.2% in the so-called productive age (15–54 years for women and 15–59 years for men), and 18.6% in the so-called post-productive age (over 54 years for women and over 59 years for men). For every 100 women there were 89.5 men. The population was slightly decreasing (by 423) in 2005, with the number of deaths (727) higher than the number of live births (673) and a negative migration rate. The

life expectancy Human life expectancy is a statistical measure of the estimate of the average remaining years of life at a given age. The most commonly used measure is ''life expectancy at birth'' (LEB, or in demographic notation ''e''0, where '' ...

at birth was 75.1 years (as of 2001), which is a figure close to the

median The median of a set of numbers is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a Sample (statistics), data sample, a statistical population, population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as the “ ...

life expectancy in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. According to the 2001 census, the religious composition was 46.6% Roman Catholics, 30.2% people with no religious affiliation, and 13.9% Lutherans. People's ethnic self-identification was 94.7% Slovak and 1.4% Czech. Before World War II, the population of the city also included significant German, Hungarian, and Jewish minorities and many people were trilingual, mastering the Slovak, German, and Hungarian languages. The Jews resided for a long time in Radvaň because they used to be prohibited from entering the city. The synagogue in Banská Bystrica was built in 1867 and demolished in 1983.

Economy

While Banská Bystrica's prosperity used to be derived from copper mining in the distant past, the most important sectors of the local economy are now tourism, timber, and mechanical industry. Two of the largest employers in Slovakia, Slovenská pošta (the public postal service, ranked as the 3rd largest employer) and Lesy SR (the national forest service, ranked as 13th). have their headquarters in Banská Bystrica. In the period 2007–2013, the city intends to work with Zvolen and other municipalities in the vicinity in order to jointly develop one of Slovakia's major

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...

s. The municipal strategy of

economic development In economics, economic development (or economic and social development) is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and object ...

envisages Banská Bystrica as a regional center of tourism, services, administration, and entrepreneurship. The proclaimed three pillars of the future development are the natural and

cultural heritage Cultural heritage is the heritage of tangible and intangible heritage assets of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all heritages of past generations are "heritage"; rather, heritage is a product of selection by socie ...

information technologies Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data and information processing, and storage. Information technolo ...

, and infrastructure. GDP per capita in 2001 was €3,643, which was below Slovakia's average (€4,400). GDP per capita for the

(''Banskobystrický kraj'') in 2004 was PPS €10,148.70 (current euros), which was below Slovakia's average of PPS €12,196.20. More recent data disaggregated to the level of districts or municipalities are not available, but all of Slovakia's regional seats have per-capita GDPs above their region averages. The

unemployment rate Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work d ...

in Banská Bystrica was 6.2% in December 2006, below the country's average of 9.4% at that time. The unemployment rate in the whole country has been decreasing since then, reaching 7.8% in November 2007. The city has a balanced budget of more than one billion

Slovak koruna The Slovak koruna or Slovak crown (, literally meaning ''Slovak crown'') was the currency of Slovakia between 8 February 1993 and 31 December 2008, and could be used for cash payment until 16 January 2009. The ISO 4217 code was ''SKK'' and the lo ...

s (almost €33 million, ), with a small deficit of 37 million korunas. More than one fifth of the budget was used for investment. The highest revenue comes from the

income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...

of persons (437 million korunas in 2006).

Places of interest

Most of the historical monuments are concentrated near its central, picturesque SNP Square (), which teems with flowers and street cafes in the summer. The square is named after the Slovak National Uprising. It is dominated by a clock tower built in 1552. Although less known than its famous counterpart in Pisa, it is a leaning tower with the top off the perpendicular. A plague column (Slovak: ''Morový stĺp'') was erected in the square in the 18th century in gratitude to the Virgin Mary for ending a deadly plague. The column was temporarily removed before a visit of the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

leader

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and the Premier of the Soviet Union, Chai ...

in 1964 because a religious symbol was considered too embarrassing a background for the Communist leader's speech. The St. Francis Xavier Cathedral (Slovak: ''Kapitulský kostol'', "Chapter Church") is a copy of the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

Church of the Gesu in Rome and is since 1776 the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Banská Bystrica. Other major monuments on the square include an

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

fountain from the beginning of the 20th century and a black

obelisk An obelisk (; , diminutive of (') ' spit, nail, pointed pillar') is a tall, slender, tapered monument with four sides and a pyramidal or pyramidion top. Originally constructed by Ancient Egyptians and called ''tekhenu'', the Greeks used th ...

raised to the honor of the Soviet soldiers killed during the liberation of the city in 1945. Most buildings enclosing the square and in the nearby streets are well-preserved Gothic,

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

, and

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

noblemen's mansions and wealthy burghers' residences. The most interesting among them are the Benicky House and the Thurzo House, the latter hosting a museum with a regional archaeological collection and remarkable Gothic

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

s. Most of the buildings in the center have been transformed into luxury stores, restaurants, and cafes. SNP Square itself was completely reconstructed in 1994. The museum located at the Memorial of the Slovak National Uprising contains a large military collection, including an open-air exhibition of World War II tanks, artillery, aircraft, and armored trains. Banská Bystrica has also a large network of marked hiking trails all around the city. In wintertime, it attracts fans of

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing whereby skiers traverse snow-covered terrain without use of ski lifts or other assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreational activity; however, some still use it as a m ...

and downhill skiing, as there are a number of ski resorts close to the city, including the Donovaly resort famous for dogsled racing.

Town castle

The oldest part of Banská Bystrica is town

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

at the edge of SNP Square. It is enclosed within what has remained of its original fortifications − a barbican protecting the main gate, three bastions, and part of the walls. The town castle served as the town's administrative center and it also protected the king's treasury. The

Parish Church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

(Slovak: ''Farský kostol'') of the Assumption of the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

built in the Romanesque and Gothic styles contains precious Gothic altars and sculptures. One of the altars was carved by the famous Master Paul of Levoča. The church was built in the 13th century. It is still surrounded by remnants of its ancient cemetery. The neighboring Church of the Holy Cross was built in 1452 by the Slovak burghers as a counterpart to the Church of the Virgin Mary that then acquired the attribute ''German''. The Matthias House (Slovak: Matejov dom) was built in 1479 as a five-story late-Gothic structure with a Gothic portal and stone console balcony. It served as a temporary residence of King

Matthias Corvinus Matthias Corvinus (; ; ; ; ; ) was King of Hungary and King of Croatia, Croatia from 1458 to 1490, as Matthias I. He is often given the epithet "the Just". After conducting several military campaigns, he was elected King of Bohemia in 1469 and ...

and his

Queen Consort A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king, and usually shares her spouse's social Imperial, royal and noble ranks, rank and status. She holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles and may be crowned and anointed, but hi ...

Beatrix. The Renaissance Old Town Hall, dated from 1500, has been transformed into an art museum.

Culture

There are four theaters in Banská Bystrica. The State

Opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

() was founded in 1959. It has given the opera world several divas, Edita Gruberová being the most famous one. Every summer, the State Opera organizes a popular open-air festival at Zvolen Castle. ''Štúdio tanca'' is a professional

contemporary dance Contemporary dance is a genre of Concert dance, dance performance that developed during the mid-twentieth century and has since grown to become one of the dominant genres for formally trained dancers throughout the world, with particularly stron ...

theater established in 1998. A professional marionette theater, ''Bábkové divadlo na Rázcestí'' (Puppet Theater at the Fork in the Road) founded in 1960, organizes the only marionette festival in Slovakia. Theatre from the Passage (Slovak: ''Divadlo z Pasáže'') is Slovakia's only theater with a mentally disabled cast whose mission is to help integrate mentally disabled people in society. Museum of Slovak National Uprising

The oldest museum in the city is the Museum of Central Slovakia (Slovak: ''Stredoslovenské múzeum''), founded in 1889. Its historical exposition is located in the Thurzo House on SNP Square, while the natural history exposition is in the Tihányi Mansion in Radvaň. The Old Town Hall building at City Castle hosts the State Gallery (Slovak: ''Štátna Galéria'') specialized in contemporary Slovak art. The Museum of the Slovak National Uprising (Slovak: ''Múzeum Slovenského národného povstania'') features a collection of 203,000 militaria, including an open-air exhibition of World War II heavy weapons. Other noteworthy museums are the regional Literature and Music Museum (Slovak: ''Literárne a hudobné múzeum'') and Slovakia's only Postal Museum (Slovak: ''Poštové múzeum Slovenskej pošty''). The town is the setting for the book St Peter's Umbrella by Kálmán Mikszáth, published in 1895. The book was part of a large increase in Hungarian writing at the time, which was symptomatic of the rise in Hungarian separatism against what was seen as the oppression of the German Habsburgs. From 22 to 28 February 1959 the first festival of the Czechoslovak cinema was presented in Banská Bystrica. While it was planned by ''Český film'' as a showcase of the national film production it turned into a tribunal for those films that did not fit the ideological guidelines of the Communist Party. Several films were banned, among them: ''Tri prání'' directed by Ján Kadár and Elmar Klos, ''Zde jsou lvi'' by Václav Krška, '' Hvezda jede na jih'' by Oldrich Lipský and ''Konec jasnovidce'' by Vladimír Svitáček and Ján Roháč. There are four

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

ensembles for adults and three for children. Their aim is to preserve and present Slovak folklore traditions, especially the

traditional music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

. The oldest one is the award-winning Urpín Folklore Ensemble, founded in 1957. Mladosť Folklore Ensemble is affiliated with University of Matej Bel. FK Dukla Banská Bystrica is the local

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club, playing in the top Slovak football league, the Corgoň Liga. They have their home ground at SNP Stadium, with a capacity of 10,000. Other clubs based in the city include the Extraliga

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

club HC 05 Banská Bystrica and the basketball club BKP Banská Bystrica.

Government

The city is governed by a mayor () and a

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

(Slovak: ''mestské zastupiteľstvo''). The mayor is the head of the city and its chief executive. The term of office is for four years. The current mayor following the 2014 municipal elections is Ján Nosko, an independent. Banská Bystrica is divided into four electoral districts, consisting of the following neighborhoods: # Staré mesto, Uhlisko, Prednádražie, Šalková, Senica, Majer (7 councilors) # Kráľová, Iliaš, Kremnička, Rakytovce (4 councilors) # Radvaň, Fončorda, Podlavice, Skubín (11 councilors) # Sásová, Rudlová, Uľanka, Jakub, Kostiviarska (10 councilors) Banská Bystrica is the capital of one of eight largely autonomous

Regions of Slovakia Since 1949 (except 1990–1996), Slovakia has been divided into a number of (singular ; usually translated as "Regions" with capital R). Their number, borders and functions have been changed several times. There are eight regions of Slovakia a ...

. It was the capital of an even larger region encompassing the whole of central Slovakia from 1960 until 1990, but the territory was subdivided in 1996 between the

Banská Bystrica Banská Bystrica (, also known by other #Etymology, alternative names) is a city in central Slovakia, located on the Hron River in a long and wide valley encircled by the mountain chains of the Low Tatras, the Greater Fatra, Veľká Fatra, and t ...

and

Žilina Žilina (; ; ; ; Names of European cities in different languages: U-Z#Z, names in other languages) is a city in north-western Slovakia, around from the capital Bratislava, close to both the Czech and Polish borders. It is the List of cities ...

regions, and a part of

Trenčín region The Trenčín Region (, ; ; ) is one of the eight Slovak administrative regions. It consists of nine districts ('' okresy''). The region was established in 1996: previously it had been a part of the West Slovak Region () and partly the Central S ...

. Banská Bystrica is also the capital of a smaller

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

. The

(Slovak: ''okres Banská Bystrica'') is entirely contained within the Banská Bystrica Region (Slovak: ''Banskobystrický kraj''). Several national public institutions have their headquarters in the city, the most prominent are the Tax Directorate of the Slovak Republic and the Slovak public postal service ( Slovenská pošta). The city also hosts a regional branch of National Bank of Slovakia.

Education

Banská Bystrica is the home of Matej Bel University () with 16,460 students, including 416 doctoral students.

Academy of Arts An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

(Slovak: ''Akadémia umení'') with 490 students is specialized in performing and

fine art In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function (such as ...

s. A satellite campus of the Slovak Medical University is also located in the city. There are 15 public primary schools, two private primary schools, and two religious primary schools. Overall, they enroll 7,029 pupils. The city's system of secondary education (some

middle school Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes g ...

s and all high schools) consists of five gymnasia with 3,280 students, seven specialized high schools with 2,873 students, and six

vocational school A vocational school (alternatively known as a trade school, or technical school), is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary education#List of tech ed skills, secondary or post-secondar ...

s with 1,884 students. The largest library is the State Scientific Library with 2 million volumes. The geological institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences has a branch in Banská Bystrica and the small Banská Bystrica Regional Astronomical Observatory is located on Urpín Mountain.

Transportation

Banská Bystrica has bus and train connections to the rest of the country, as well as to many other European cities. The R1 expressway connects the city to Zvolen and to Slovakia's capital Bratislava. Other roads of state importance connect the city to Brezno (No. 66), to Ružomberok (No. 59) and to Turčianske Teplice (No. 14). Banská Bystrica railway station is a junction between the Vrútky–Zvolen railway, which links Banská Bystrica with

and

, and the Banská Bystrica–Červená Skala railway, which heads east towards

. Banská Bystrica mesto railway station is a smaller station located closer to the city centre, served by trains on the Vrútky-Zvolen line. Public transport in the city is managed by two different companies
Dopravný podnik mesta Banská Bystrica
is a public service run by the municipality. It operates

trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...

es and

minibus A minibus, microbus, or minicoach is a passenger-carrying motor vehicle that is designed to carry more people than a multi-purpose vehicle or minivan, but fewer people than a full-size bus. In the United Kingdom, the word "minibus" is us ...

es. The

private company A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose Stock, shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in their respective listed markets. Instead, the Private equi ...

SAD Zvolen has a fleet of buses. In addition to regular lines, it also offers express and night lines. 30% of people use their private cars for journeys to work and the average commute time is 35 minutes.

Sport

The Národný Atletický Štadión is a multi-purpose stadium, used mainly for athletics and football matches and is the home ground of MFK Dukla Banská Bystrica. The stadium built in 1959, underwent a complete reconstruction in 2018.

Motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four clockwise, anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that ...

was held around the football pitch on the site from 1959 to 1966 and hosted a final round of the Czechoslovak Individual Speedway Championship in 1959 and 1960.

Twin towns – sister cities

Banská Bystrica is twinned with: * Alba, Italy ''(since 1967)'' *

Budva Budva (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Будва, or ) is a town in the Coastal Montenegro, Coastal region of Montenegro. It had 27,445 inhabitants as of 2023, and is the centre of Budva Municipality. The coastal area around Budva, called the Budv ...

, Montenegro ''(since 2001)'' * Charleston, United States ''(since 2010)'' * Dabas, Hungary ''(since 2000)'' * Durham, England, United Kingdom ''(since 1967)'' * Halberstadt, Germany ''(since 1998)'' *

Herzliya Herzliya ( ; , / ) is an affluent List of Israeli cities, city in the Israeli coastal plain, central coast of Israel, at the northern part of the Tel Aviv District, known for its robust start-up and entrepreneurial culture. In it had a populatio ...

, Israel ''(since 1995)'' * Hradec Králové, Czech Republic ''(since 1967)'' * Kovačica, Serbia ''(since 2002)'' * Larissa, Greece ''(since 1988)'' * Mangalia, Romania ''(since 2006)'' *

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

, Bulgaria ''(since 1995)'' * Radom, Poland ''(since 2001)'' * Salgótarján, Hungary ''(since 1967)'' *

Tarnobrzeg Tarnobrzeg is a city in south-eastern Poland (historic Lesser Poland), on the east bank of the river Vistula, with 49,419 inhabitants, as of 31 December 2009. Situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (Polish: ''Województwo podkarpackie'') since ...

, Poland ''(since 1995)'' * Tula, Russia ''(since 1967)'' *

Vršac Vršac ( sr-Cyrl, Вршац, ) is a city in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. As of 2022, the city urban area had a population of 31,946, while the city administrative area had 45,462 inhabitants. It is located in the geographical ...

, Serbia ''(since 2004)'' * Zadar, Croatia ''(since 1995)''

Other forms of cooperation

Ascoli Piceno Ascoli Piceno (; ; ) is a (municipality) and capital of the province of Ascoli Piceno, in the Italy, Italian region of Marche. Geography The town lies at the confluence of the Tronto, River Tronto and the small Castellano (river), River Castell ...

, Italy ''(since 1998)'' *

Jyväskylä Jyväskylä () is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Central Finland. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Jyväskylä is approximately , while the Jyväskylä sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately ...

, Finland ''(since 2006)'' * Sumy, Ukraine ''(since 2016)'' *

Shenyang Shenyang,; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly known as Fengtian formerly known by its Manchu language, Manchu name Mukden, is a sub-provincial city in China and the list of capitals in China#Province capitals, provincial capital of Liaonin ...

, China ''(since 2006)''

Genealogical resources

The records for genealogical research are available at the state archive in Banská Bystrica (). * Roman Catholic church records (births/marriages/deaths): 1628–1900 (parish A) * Lutheran church records (births/marriages/deaths): 1743–1920 (parish A)

References

External links

Official municipal website of Banská Bystrica

Basic information for tourists

Comprehensive information about the city

{{DEFAULTSORT:Banska Bystrica Cities and towns in Slovakia Castles in Slovakia Slovak National Uprising Mining communities in the Slovak Republic