BANSKá BYSTRICA

'Banská Bystrica' (previously known also by several alternative names) is a city in central Slovakia. It emerged in the 9th century and received municipal privileges of a royal town in 1255. In the Middle Ages, a prosperous mining town was embellished with churches, palaces, and fortifications. Banská Bystrica is the capital of a ''kraj'' (Banská Bystrica Region) and an ''okres'' (Banská Bystrica District). It is also the seat of Matej Bel University. A medieval city with good access to mountains, Banská Bystrica is a popular winter and summer resort. A population of 81,704 makes it the sixth largest municipality in Slovakia.

Contents

Etymology

Geography

History

Places of interest

Municipal Castle

Demographics

Education

Culture

Theaters

Museums

Folklore

Government

Transport

Famous people

Sister cities

External links

References

Etymology

Owing to its multicultural character, Banská Bystrica has had several names, used simultaneously throughout its history. The oldest known name is the Latin ''Villa Nova Bystrice'' (meaning "new town ''Bystrice''"), used in 1255.^[1] The old German name ''Neusohl'' ("New Zvolen") and a later Latin name of the same meaning (''Neosolium'') reflect the fact that the first settlers came from the nearby town of Zvolen (thereafter known in German as ''Altsohl'', literally "Old Zvolen").
The current Slovak (''Banská Bystrica'') and Hungarian (''Besztercebánya'' - originating from a 1263 version ''Byzthercebana'') names include two distinct roots: the name of the local river (''Bystrica'', meaning appr. "quick river" in Slovak) and the Slovak and Hungarian words for "mining": the Slovak adjective ''Banská'' and the Hungarian noun ''bánya'' respectively.

Geography

Banská Bystrica lies at an altitude of 362 metres above sea level and covers an area of 103.37 km².^[2] It is 208 km north-east from Slovakia's capital Bratislava. Banská Bystrica is connected by a chain of suburbs and villages with another major town, Zvolen.
Banská Bystrica is situated in the upper Hron river basin. The city is surrounded by three mountain chains: Low Tatra, Veľká Fatra, and Kremnica Mountains. All three are protected areas because of their environmental value. Banská Bystrica also hosts the headquarters of Low Tatra National Park. Despite the proximity of these mountains, the local landscape is dominated by the much lower Urpín hill, which is a popular place of recreation.

History

View on the old town from the Urpín hill

The early history of Banská Bystrica is connected with the exploitation of abundant deposits of copper (and to a lesser extent of silver, gold, and iron). The tools used by prehistoric miners in a locality called Špania Dolina are dated as early as 2000-1700 BCE. The people of the Lusatian culture built their settlements in Špania Dolina, Horné Pršany, Malachov, and Sásová. Those places of ancient hill forts are still remembered in the local toponym ''Hrádok'', meaning "a small castle".^[3] The territory became dominated by the Celtic tribe of Cotini (Púchov culture) in the 3th century BCE. The Germanic tribe of Quadi took over the place during the Roman Era, leaving for instance a hoard of silver artifacts in the Netopierska jaskyňa cave.
The present city was founded in the 9th century CE by the Slavic ancestors of the modern Slovaks. The first known stone church was built by the Saxon colonists of Sásová in the first half of the 13th century. In 1255, King Béla IV of Hungary granted Banská Bystrica extensive municipal privileges in order to attract more skilled settlers from the Holy Roman Empire.^[4] Descendants of these German colonists became later known as Carpathian Germans. The city flourished as a regional mining center. In the second half of the 13th century, it built a remarkable Romanesque church of the Virgin Mary. In 1494, the company ''Ungarischer Handel'' ("Hungarian Trade" in German), was founded by the affluent Fugger and Thurzo families. Depending mainly on the mines around Banská Bystrica, the company became the leading world producer of copper by the 16th century.
Miners rioted in 1526 and the city council had to take refuge in the municipal castle. The Ottoman Empire's northern advance led the magistrate to fortify the city with modern stone walls in 1589. Banská Bystrica was one of the foremost centers of the Protestant Reformation in Slovakia and the city had to fight for its rights against the ruling dynasty of Catholic Austrian Habsburgs, as well as against the Ottoman Turks and powerful Hungarian magnates. In 1620 Prince Gabriel Bethlen of Transylvania, a Protestant, was elected King of Hungary at the Diet in Banská Bystrica.
As the copper deposits were almost depleted, the development in the subsequent centuries was based on new industries (timber, paper, textiles). The Radvaň borough was granted the right to hold the annual ''Radvanský jarmok'' fair in 1655. The fair was transferred to Banská Bystrica's main square in the 20th century. In 1766, the city became the capital of Zvolen county. Banská Bystrica also became the seat of a Catholic bishopric (1776) and several institutions of higher educations. Public services quickly expanded, with foundation of a permanent municipal hospital (1820), a municipal theater (1841), and a municipal museum (1889). Railway reached the town from Zvolen in 1873. During World War II, the city was the center of anti-Nazi opposition in Slovakia. The Slovak National Uprising, one of the largest movements of anti-Nazi resistance in Europe, was launched from Banská Bystrica on August 29, 1944. Banská Bystrica remained an administrative, economic, and cultural center for central Slovakia throughout the 20th century. Because of the unprecedented development of the Matej Bel University in the 1990s, it has also gained the character of a university town.

Places of interest

Barbican of the municipal castle with its Gothic (painted in red and white) and Baroque (painted in yellow) parts

Most historical monuments are concentrated near the picturesque main square (), which in summertime is covered by flowers and street cafes. The square is dominated by a leaning clock tower built in 1552, an ancient "plague column" (Slovak: ''Morový stĺp''), an interesting fountain, and a black obelisk raised to the honour of the Soviet soldiers killed during the liberation of the city in 1945. Most buildings on the square and the surrounding streets are well-preserved Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque burgher houses. The most interesting among them are Benicky house and Thurzo house (Slovak: ''Thurzov dom''), the latter hosting a museum with a regional archaeological collection and remarkable Gothic frescos.
From the fortifications, a barbican protecting the main gate, three bastions and a part of the historical walls have been preserved. Banská Bystrica also has a museum located at the Memorial of the Slovak National Uprising, which offers a large military collection, including an open-air exhibition of tanks, artillery, air planes, and armored trains from World War II.
Banská Bystrica has also a large network of hiking paths all around the city. In wintertime, it attracts fans of cross-country skiing and downhill skiing, as there are a number of ski resorts close to the city, including the Donovaly resort, famous for dogsled racing.

Municipal Castle

The oldest part of Banská Bystrica is the castle complex within walking distance of the main square. The municipal castle served as the administrative center of the city and it also protected the king's treasury. The Church of Assumption of the Virgin Mary (Slovak: ''Farský kostol''), built in the Romanesque and Gothic styles, contains precious Gothic altars and sculptures. One of the altars was carved by famous Master Paul of Levoča. The church was built in the 13th century, well before the city got its first royal privileges. The ancient cemetery around the church is partly preserved. The Church of the Holy Cross was built in 1452 by the local Slovak burghers as a challenge of some sort to the "German" Church of the Virgin Mary. The Matthias House (Slovak: ''Matejov dom'') was built in 1479 as a five-story late-Gothic palace with a Gothic portal and stone console balcony. It served as a temporary residence of the king Matthias Corvinus and his queen consort Beatrix. The old Renaissance town hall, dated from 1500, has been transformed into a gallery.^[5]

Demographics

In 2005, the city had a total population of 81,704 (the 6th largest in Slovakia). The population density was 790/km². For every 100 women there were 89.5 men. According to the 2001 census, the religious composition was: 46.6% Roman Catholics, 30.2% people with no religious affiliation, and 13.9% Lutherans. 94.7% of inhabitants were Slovaks and 1.4% Czechs.

'Population of Banská Bystrica'[6]
1720	1869	1918	1950	1980	1991	2001
2,646	5,950	10,776	22,651	62,923	83,698	83,056

As indicated by their last names, many inhabitants are direct descendants of medieval German settlers. Before World War II, the population of the city also included significant Hungarian and Jewish minorities and most people mastered Slovak, German, Hungarian, and sometimes also Czech and Yiddish languages.

'Population by ethnicity'
'Year'	'Slovaks'	'Germans'	'Hungarians'
1715	1,899	873	279
1850	4,221	978	44
1919	8,265	406	1,565
2001	78,700	53	446

Education

Banská Bystrica is the home of Matej Bel University (''Univerzita Mateja Bela'') with 15,000 students and of a smaller Academy of Arts. There is also a satellite campus of Slovak Medical University. The public school system consists of 12 secondary schools and 16 primary schools. The biggest library is the State Scientific Library with 2 million volumes. The geological institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences has a detached branch in Banská Bystrica and a small astronomical observatory is located on the Urpín hill.

Culture

Theaters

There are four theaters in Banská Bystrica. ''Štátna opera v Banskej Bystrici'' is an opera house founded in 1960. Every summer, it organizes a popular open air festival at Zvolen Castle. ''Štúdio tanca'' is a contemporary dance theater. A professional marionette theater, ''Bábkové divadlo na Rázcestí'', is responsible for organizing the only marionette festival in Slovakia. ''Divadlo z Pasáže'' is a unique theater with a mentally disabled cast.

Museums

The oldest museum in the city is Museum of Central Slovakia, founded in 1889. The historical exposition is located in Thurzo House on the main square, while the natural history exposition is in Tihanyi's manor house, in Radvaň. The old town hall building in the municipal castle hosts the State Gallery. The Museum of Slovak National Uprising features an open air exhibition of Worl War II weapons. Other noteworthy museums are a museum devoted to the regional literature and music and the only museum of stamps in Slovakia.

Folklore

There are four folklore ensembles for adults and three for children. Their aim is to preserve and present Slovak folklore traditions, especially the traditional music.

Government

The city is governed by a mayor (''primátor'') and a city council (''mestské zastupiteľstvo''). The mayor is the head of the city's chief executive and is elected for a four-year term of office. The current mayor, Ivan Saktor, was nominated in 2006 by a coalition of Smer-SD, SNS, and SZ. The council is the city's legislative body. 21 councillors are elected in four electoral districts. The electoral districts consist of the following neighborhoods:^[7]
#Staré mesto ("Old town"), Uhlisko, Prednádražie, Šalková, Senica, Majer
#Kráľová, Iliaš, Kremnička, Rakytovce
#Radvaň, Fončorda, Podlavice, Skubín
#Sásová, Rudlová, Uľanka, Jakub, Kostiviarska
Banská Bystrica is the capital of two administrative units, a ''kraj'' (Banská Bystrica Region) and an ''okres'' (Banská Bystrica District). In addition, several national institutions have their headquarters in the city. The most prominent ones are the Tax Directorate of the Slovak Republic (''Daňové riaditeľstvo SR'') and the public postal service (''Slovenská pošta'').

Transport

Banská Bystrica has bus and train connections to the rest of the country, as well as to Vienna and Prague. There are also scheduled flights to the latter city from the Sliač Airport. The Motorroad R1 connects the city to Bratislava. The fast motorroad is partially still under construction.

Famous people

★ Paľo Bielik, director and actor

★ Peter Budaj, ice hockey player

★ Ján Cikker, composer

★ Viliam Figuš-Bystrý, composer

★ Michal Handzuš, ice hockey player

★ Peter Karvaš, writer

★ Ivan Majeský, ice hockey player

★ Jozef Murgaš, inventor

★ Vladimir Orszagh, ice hockey player

★ Haviva Reik, Jewish soldier

★ Dominik Skutecký, painter

★ Tomáš Surový, ice hockey player

★ Jozef Gregor Tajovský, writer

★ Peter Tomka, diplomat

★ Gustáv Kazimír Zechenter-Laskomerský, writer

★ Richard Zedník, ice hockey player

Sister cities

Banská Bystrica has several sister cities and partner towns around the world: Banská Bystrica Sister Cities

★ - Alba, Italy, since 1967 ★ - Durham, England, since 1967 ★ - Hradec Králové, Czech Republic, since 1967 ★ - Salgótarján, Hungary, since 1967 ★ - Tula, Russia, since 1967 ★ - Herzliya, Israel, since 1995 ★ - Larissa, Greece, since 1995 ★ - Montana, Bulgaria, since 1995 ★ - Tarnobrzeg, Poland, since 1995

★ - Zadar, Croatia, since 1995 ★ - Ascoli Piceno, Italy, since 1998 ★ - Halberstadt, Germany, since 1998 ★ - Dabas, Hungary, since 2000 ★ - Budva, Montenegro, since 2001 ★ - Radom, Poland, since 2001 ★ - Kovačica, Serbia, since 2002 ★ - Vršac, Serbia, since 2004 ★ - Saint Étienne, France, since 2006

External links

★ Official municipal website of Banská Bystrica

★ Basic information for tourists

★ Comprehensive information about the city

★ Satellite view of Banská Bystrica

★ Another site for tourists

References

1. ''K najstaršej podobe erbu Banskej Bystrice'' (On the oldest form of the coat of arms of Banská Bystrica), , Igor, Graus, Bystrický Permon,
2. Municipal Statistics
3. Archeológia
4. Banská Bystrica - History
5. The town castle of Banská Bystrica
6. ''Banská Bystrica vo svetle posledného sčítania obyvateľstva domov a bytov'', , Jozef, Ďuriančik, Bystrický Permon,
7. Zoznam volebných obvodov s príslušnými ulicami