Banska Bystrica Region is located in south part of Central Slovakia, and with its extent of 9445 square kilometres is greatest area of the Republic. On south, it borders with Hungary, on west with Nitra and Trenčín regions, on north with Žilina and Prešov regions, and, finally, on east with Košice region.
SK, Banska Bystrica: Attractive Center of Central Slovakia – VIDEO
Published: 16.10.2018
Every Slovak, if you happen to be in Central Slovakia, logically recommends a trip to Banska Stiavnica. However, its bigger "sister" and the natural metropolis of the region - Banska Bystrica deserve attention as well. Let's get together to explore it.
History of the city goes deep into the Prehistory. Already in this area, copper began to be extracted, one of two necessary raw materials for production of bronze.
Archaeological findings from SNP square, Banska Bystrica clearly prove the settlement was founded by the Slavs in the 9th century AD. In 1225, it became a free royal town with mining privileges. Since then, thanks to the constant exploitation of copper, iron, silver and other metals, it has been developing and richer. Today, many beautiful Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque buildings have been preserved, most of them have been able to reconstruct sensitively in recent years. In the center of the city you will definitely not miss the grounds of the Town Castle and the late Gothic parish church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. Part of the fortification of the castle is also the church of St. Crisis. There is also an old town hall, called Prétorium.
On the neighboring SNP square you can find St Francis Xavier's cathedral, bishop's palace, reconstructed town hall and many beautiful historic houses of wealthy burghers. There is also a sloping clock tower that you can even climb to see the city and its surroundings.
Interesting sights can be seen outside the city center as well, mainly several historic churches. In addition, Banska Bystrica offers plenty of great opportunities for trips to the surroundings. Whether it is the entire Low Tatras National Park, or for example the reservation of the folk architecture of Spania Valley or the Harmanecka Cave.
Banska Bystrica can be reached either on the expressway R1 from Bratislava, or via Martin and Harmanec from Žilina. To use the train, you can either from Bratislava via Zvolen or from the beautiful mountain track from Turcianske Teplice. Trains run along the track towards Brezno to the east of Slovakia.
The hissing steam accompanied by the whistling of a steam locomotive has been completing the color of the earth in the Čierny Hron basin for years. The nostalgia of old times, the jumping cars and the unique beauty of nature around. So it's the Montenegrin Railway! Don't miss today's final train ride.
This time we will head to the foot of the Slovak Ore Mountains and to the river Rimava, where the town of Tisovec lies. The first written mention dates from 1334 and its history is closely connected with mining, more precisely with the mining of silver, iron ore and later limestone.
Today we will take you along the picturesque railway tracks to the mysterious Vydrovské údolí. Once used to transport lumber by train, now only laughing tourists travel here. Board the "deck" with us and walk through the forest open-air museum for a magical adventure.
We can spend moments of relaxation actively lazing. Some people like relaxation and care offered by Slovak spas, others want to be physically active - whether by the water, by bike, or while hiking. We visited the Central Slovak village of Kováčová, where everyone will enjoy it.
In the northern part of the Banská Bystrica region, approximately 20 kilometers northeast of Banská Bystrica, lies the village of Brusno. From the cadastral point of view, the territory was originally divided between the villages of Svatý Ondrej and Brusno, but in 1960 it was merged into one large municipality. The town is known mainly for its spa, but in the following lines we will introduce you to other tourist attractions.
Banska Bystrica is often looked at as the heart of the country below the Tatras. There one of the most important memorials in Slovakia is located. It reminds the nation of the second world war and Slovak resistance to fascism.
We can describe Banska Bystrica easily – mining history and the Slovakian National Uprising. Since time immemorial has been the history of Banska Bystrica tied to mining – mostly silver and copper.
The authentic forest railway, which was saved and still kept alive by a group of enthusiasts, is a popular attraction in the Čierný Hron valley. When you come here to see, you will definitely not resist and try one of the rides.
Small and large lovers of trains, trains and everything connected with the railway cannot miss this railway. For years, it has been attracting many tourists to the Čierný Hron valley with steam hissing from a locomotive. We couldn't resist either, today we will take you directly to the station in Čierny Balog.
After a week we will finish our trip to the plague columns. We will talk about the fate of it in Banská Bystrica and we will remember the doctor Karel Otto Moller.
In the heart of Banská Bystrica, right on the square in front of the leaning clock tower, rises the Marian column. "We will meet at Mary's," many hearers say. At the same time, does he have any idea of its history, why was it built and subsequently had to leave its place in the 1960s?
This time we will take you to the south of central Slovakia, where it covers the largest area of all regions. We will talk about the Banská Bystrica region, whose history as well as monuments are closely connected with the mining past.
After a long time, we put on our hiking boots again and go to the mountains. This time we will visit the Poľana Mountains, characterized by a massive circular massif, which is the remnant of one of the largest extinct volcanoes in Europe.
We haven't taken you to mountains in Slovakia for a long time now, so we'll fix it today. We will visit one of the mining gems of Slovakia, which is Špania Dolina. It lies less than 11 kilometers from Banská Bystrica in the arms of the Starohorské Hills.
Last week we wrote about the history of construction and the symbolism of plague columns in Europe, today we will focus on these sights in Slovakia. Marian columns are the largest here. These are typical of a depiction of the Virgin Mary with a child or a statue of the Immaculate Conception (Immaculate Conception) on top of them.
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II. Many monuments, museums and open-air museums of military technology have been built over the past decade to commemorate this dark event in our history. They want to remind us not only of the destruction and casualties caused by the war, but also of the victory.
We enjoyed several days in the Low Tatras despite the fact that weather was not good. Excited tourist and a man who loves mountain is hard to discourage, especially with only few rain drops that bring with them nice smell of mountain air. Our goal today was a tourist view platform above Pavcina Lehota town.
One never gets bored in the Low Tatras. From spring to fall, tourists that like short or long trips in beautiful Tatranian nature go there. In winter, there are myriads of skiers and snowboarders, that just love ski slopes in the Low Tatras. Today, we take you to a place you should visit regardless the season.
Should you travel to the town of Bojnice which is very popular, it is likely you will get to Prievidza, a town nearby. Many just ride through it without stopping. It is shame because there is a lot to see in this town central to its region.
Couple of kilometers from Liptovsky Hradok, a town we saw last week, there is Liptovsky Mikulas – a district town, social and cultural center of the Liptov region. Today we take a tour in this town.
Last week we started our tour in the historical core of Liptovsky Mikulas, the alleged entrance gate to the Liptov Region. Despite bad weather, we saw many sights and places we tell you about today.
We returned to our car upon a walk in Liptovsky Mikulas. Before we set off to see other destinations of our trip we took a look into the map. Other two places appeared interesting enough to visit them.
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