Vicinity

Town Square SNP - one of the most beautiful town squares in Slovakia

The dominant place of present day Banska Bystrica is its beautifully reconstructed Town Square SNP and its adjacent Town Square of Stefan Moyzes with its castle area. Old hundreds-year old buildings, narrow streets and the mountainous scenery surround this place. The historical centre is full of life especially in spring and summer months. Lots of caffees, sweetshops and restaurants cover the town square with beautiful carpets of tables, chairs, umbrellas amidst the cooling mountainous breeze.Among the lots of young people in the square, one feels as though he was in a vast summer garden. Banska Bystrica is called an university town, not without a reason.
On the town square SNP there are multiple historical jewels such as Beniczkeho House (Number 16) with its beautiful renaissance portal, the town hall dated back from 1500, which beloged to V.Muhlestein in the past, or the building of the Middle-Slovakia museum, also called Thurzov dom (number 4), the headquarters of thurzovsko-fuggerovska association. This gothis building with elements of rennaisance has a very rare wooden ceiling and unique wall paintings such as ‘Zuzana v kupeli’ or ‘Posledny sud’.One of the turist baits is also the 35 metres building called ‘Hodinova veza’, which once, served as a torture-house and prison. The tower is known as skewed. Why? There is an easy explanation for that. It is pitched 68 centimetres from its axis. The ascention on the tower is not dangerous and you’ll have a beautiful view from there, on the whole panorama of the historical centres and its adjacent mountains.A legend of Permonik surrounds this place. Permonik was a guardian of coal-miners in the past, now, he is a guardian of drunk people which are wandering through the town square. His task is to bring these people home, to safety.

Bethlen House and Barbakan

The town square narrows in Dolna Street to the south, where up to sixty historical buildins are located. There is of course a lot of shops, inns where you can get high quality beer. On the end of the street there is Church of Saint Elisabeth, which was build in year 1303, as a part of the town hospital.

The Cave Harmanec, Hronsek, Poniky

In the embrace of Low Tatras, Banska Bystrica offers a huge variety of hiking and water sports. The Hron river is a virtue to fishers and the forests are a paradise for hunters. One of the most visited caves in the region is the cave Harmanec in Horny Harmanec. The mountains Kremnice surround the place. The cave is the a home to a wide variety of bats, it has also lots of stalagmites and stalagtites. When you venture deep into the cave, adventures, await you. There is also a gothic church of Saint Frantisek Serafinsky, which is the creation of Master Paul from Levoca.The one who hesitate about visiting this place, can be assured, that even Prince Charles did visit this place.

Spania dolina, castle Slovenska Lupca, Sachticky, Tajov, Kraliky

One of the jewels of the region is the formerly miners village, Spania dolina. Thanks to copper and silver, it gained fame all across Europe. In the beautiful area of Starohorske vrchy, there is a lot of opportunities for cycloturism, jogging and horse-riding. One of the important centres is also Kraliky, which are 14 kilometres away from Banska Bystrica. Apart from that, the House of the famous writes J.G. Tajovsky is located in Tajov.

Europa shopping center

Europa shopping centre is the biggest shopping-amusement facility in the whole region of Banska Bystrica. It is modern with a popular destination, it is predestined to be the most popular centre of amusement and shopping in the whole area. It is an ideal place for meetings. There is a lot of shops, services and even a club (Ministry of Fun) with its view on Urpin. This space is ideal for organising of cultural events and expositions.From its opening in the year 2006, Europa shopping centre has become the ultimate centre of amusement in the whole region.