Banska Bystrica (population: about 80,000) is one of the biggest towns in Slovakia. It serves as a gateway to the montainous center of Slovakia: Big Fatra (located N from the town), Low Tatras (NE), Slovak Metallic Ore Mountains (SE) and Kremnické Mountains (W). Low Tatras are the biggest (in area, not in height) mountains of Slovakia, and the Slovak Metallic Ore Mountains perhaps the wildest ones. The town can be accessed by road, railroad (not very recommendable as it is necessary to change trains when you travel from abroad) and through its airport called Sliac (regular connection flights with Prague).

Banska Bystrica is one of the ancient mining towns in central Slovakia: the main mineral here was the copper ore. The town was established in 1255 and it boomed between 14th and 16th centuries. Afterwards, the copper mines in Mexico, Alto Peru and Chile became its too strong competitors, so the mining dissapeared. Today, its inhabitants earn their lives mostly in services, trading, some small industries and tourism-related business.

Namestie SNP (Slovak National Uprising Square) and its nearby streets are the main monument reminding the mining heyday of the town. You can find a lot of proudly looking burgess houses there. During the communist era, when the original owners were expropriated and these houses (as everything in the country) became a „people“ property (read: they belonged to the state, but nobody did care about the maintenantce), the houses became very neglected. Today, the families of some of them are trying to recover their beauty and value. Others were sold to big banks or companies, who should (it is a law) preserve the historical look of these buildings. And, finally, in much of them you can find cozy caffés, restaurants, pubs, bars, etc. All these houses are equipped with big basements: today, most of them serve as pubs. SNP Square is one of the best preserved historic squares, with a lot of original houses, in Slovakia. It forms the true center of Banska Bystrica, which also today remains a lively town. I will try to introduce more of this in my future articles. Most of the pictures were taken during a typical winter business day with a lot of snow everywhere around. The Square is a fortunate combination historical architecture with the new entrepreneurial spirit arriving there. The square is a strict pedestrian zone. It is the biggest comercial spot in central Slovakia.

Enjoy the pics!