Banská Štiavnica
From Open Encyclopedia
Image:Banska stiavnica Trojicne namestie.jpg
Banská Štiavnica (Hungarian: Selmecbánya, German: Schemnitz) is a town in central Slovakia in the Štiavnické vrchy (Štiavnica Mountains). Population: 10,600 (2002). It is a very interesting completely preserved medieval town. The town and its surroundings were registered into the UNESCO List of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage on December 11, 1993.
In the Middle Ages, for centuries, the main producer of silver and gold in the Kingdom of Hungary (Slovakia was part of that kingdom from the 11th century until 1918). Gun powder has been used here for the first time in the world in a mine (in 1627). It was the seat of the first Mining Academy in the world, founded in 1762 by Queen Maria Theresa from a Mining school founded in 1735. In 1919, after the creation of Czechoslovakia, it was moved to Sopron in present-day Hungary. In 1782, it was the third biggest town in the Kingdom of Hungary (with 23,192 or incl. suburbs 40,000 inhabitants) after Bratislava and Debrecen. The mining activity started to decline in the second half of the 19th century.
See also
History of Slovakiacs:Banská Štiavnica de:Banská Štiavnica hu:Selmecbánya ja:バンスカー・シュチャヴニツァ ro:Banská Štiavnica sk:Banská Štiavnica sl:Banská Štiavnica
