The town of Banská Štiavnica

 

The for­mer min­ing town of Ban­ska Sti­avnica in the mid­dle of Slo­va­kia lies sur­rounded by beau­ti­ful, hilly coun­try­side. The high­est hill in the area is the Sitno (1009masl). One of the main at­trac­tions of the area are the many small ar­ti­fi­cial lakes known as 'Tajchy', which pre­vi­ously served the needs of the min­ing in­dus­try and are now a tourist at­trac­tion. The min­ing of sil­ver, gold and other min­er­als began to de­cline in the 16th cen­tury and was aban­doned al­to­gether in the 20th. The town houses the Slo­va­kian Min­ing mu­seum, to which a min­ing tun­nel be­longs, which can be ex­plored. As a re­sult of all the ar­chi­tec­tural,  cul­tural and his­toric trea­sures in the town and sur­round­ing area (Tajchy), Ban­ska Sti­avnica be­came a UN­ESCO World Her­itage Site in 1993. Tourism plays a major part in the de­vel­op­ment of the town and in sum­mer there are many cul­tural events and fes­ti­vals. As Ban­ska Sti­avnica is not on a major trans­port artery, it is faced with eco­nomic chal­lenges.  The town has about 10,000 in­hab­i­tants, with a down­ward trend.