Banská Bystrica Totally Explained

Everything about Bansk Bystrica totally explained

Banská Bystrica (; previously known also by several alternative names) is a key city in central Slovakia located on the Hron River in a long and wide valley encircled by the mountain chains of the Low Tatras, the Veľká Fatra, and the Kremnica Mountains. With 81,281 inhabitants, Banská Bystrica is the sixth most populous municipality in Slovakia. It started as a permanent settlement in the 9th century and obtained the municipal privileges of a royal town in 1255. The copper mining town acquired its present picturesque look in the Late Middle Ages when the prosperous burghers built its central churches, mansions, and fortifications. It is the capital of the kraj (Banská Bystrica Region) and the okres (Banská Bystrica District). It is also the home of Matej Bel University. As a historical city with an easy access to the surrounding mountains, Banská Bystrica is a popular winter and summer tourist destination.

Etymology

With its multicultural history, Banská Bystrica has had several parallel names. The oldest known name is the Latin Villa Nova Bystrice (meaning "New Town of Bystrica") recorded in 1255. The old German name Neusohl ("New Zvolen") and later its Latin version (Neosolium) reflected the fact that some early 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 − first recorded in 1263 as Byzthercebana)

History

The earliest history of Banská Bystrica was connected with the exploitation of its abundant deposits of copper (and to a lesser extent of silver, gold, and iron). The tools used by prehistoric miners at the locality called Špania Dolina have been dated to 2000-1700 BCE. People of the Lusatian culture built their settlements at Špania Dolina, Horné Pršany, Malachov, and Sásová. Ancient hill fort locations are still reflected in the local toponym Hrádok, meaning "a small fort (later: castle)". The territory was inhabited by the Celtic tribe of the Cotini (Púchov culture) in the 3rd century BCE. The Germanic tribe of the Quadi took over the place during the Roman Era, leaving for instance a hoard of silver artifacts in Netopierska jaskyňa (Bat Cave).
   The present city was founded in the 9th century CE by the ancestors of the modern Slovaks. Descendants of the German immigrants to this and other counties became later known as the Carpathian Germans. The city flourished as a regional mining center.
   The affluent Fugger and Thurzo families founded the prosperous Ungarischer Handel company (the German for "Hungarian Trade") in 1494. Depending mainly on the mines around Banská Bystrica, the company had become a leading world producer of copper by the 16th century. With the most sophisticated mining technologies in Europe, an advanced accounting system, and benefits including medical care for its 1,000 employees, Ungarischer Handel was one of the largest and most modern early-capitalist firms. An early record of the miners' industrial action is from 1526 when the City Council needed to take refuge within the confines of City Castle. The Ottoman Empire's thrust northwards led the magistrate to improve the city's fortifications with modern stone walls in 1589, but the Turks never occupied the region. Later on, the city had to fight for its religious freedom guaranteed by the Royal Charter against the ruling dynasty of the Austrian Roman Catholic Habsburgs, for its physical independence against the Ottoman Turks and for its self-governance against the Kingdom of Hungary's powerful magnates. It is about half way between Slovakia's two largest cities, north-east from Slovakia's capital Bratislava and west of Košice. A chain of discrete suburbs and villages connects it with Zvolen, another major town to the south.
   Banská Bystrica is situated in the Hron River valley . The Hron River curves through the city from the east to the south. The city nests among three mountain chains: the Low Tatras to the north-east, the Veľká Fatra to the north-west, and the Kremnica Mountains to the west. All three are protected areas because of their environmental value. Banská Bystrica hosts the headquarters of the Low Tatra National Park. Despite the proximity of these mountain ranges, the local landscape is dominated by the much lower Urpín Mountain,, which is a popular place of recreation.

Climate

Banská Bystrica lies in the north temperate zone and has a continental climate with four distinct seasons. It is characterized by a significant variation between hot summers and cold, snowy winters.
The population was spread out with 13.2% under the age of 15, 68.2% in the so-called productive age (15-54 years for women and 15-59 years for men), and 18.6% in the so-called post-productive age (over 54 years for women and over 59 years for men). For every 100 women there were 89.5 men. The population was slightly decreasing (by 423) in 2005, with the number of deaths (727) higher than the number of live births (673) and a negative migration rate. In the period 2007-2013, the city intends to work with Zvolen and other municipalities in the vicinity in order to jointly develop one of Slovakia's major metropolitan areas. The municipal strategy of economic development envisages Banská Bystrica as a regional center of tourism, services, administration, and entrepreneurship. More recent data disaggregated to the level of districts or municipalities are not available, but all of Slovakia's regional seats have per-capita GDPs above their region averages. The unemployment rate in Banská Bystrica was 6.2% in December 2006, below the country's average of 9.4% at that time. The unemployment rate in the whole country has been decreasing since then, reaching 7.8% in November 2007.
The city has a balanced budget of more than one billion Slovak korunas (almost €33 million, as of 2007), with a small deficit of 37 million korunas. More than one fifth of the budget was used for investment. The St. Francis Xavier Cathedral (Slovak: Kapitulský kostol, "Chapter Church") is a copy of the Jesuit Church of the Gesu in Rome and is since 1776 the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Banská Bystrica. The Parish Church (Slovak: Farský kostol) of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary built in the Romanesque and Gothic styles contains precious Gothic altars and sculptures.

Culture

Theaters

There are four theaters in Banská Bystrica. The State Opera was founded in 1959. It has given the opera world several divas, Edita Gruberová being the most famous one. A professional marionette theater, Bábkové divadlo na Rázcestí (Puppet Theater at the Fork in the Road) founded in 1960, organizes the only marionette festival in Slovakia. Theatre from the Passage (Slovak: Divadlo z Pasáže) is Slovakia's only theater with a mentally disabled cast whose mission is to help integrate mentally disabled people in society.

Museums

The oldest museum in the city is the Museum of Central Slovakia (Slovak: Stredoslovenské múzeum), founded in 1889. Its historical exposition is located in the Thurzo House on SNP Square, while the natural history exposition is in the Tihányi Mansion in Radvaň. The Old Town Hall building at City Castle hosts the State Gallery (Slovak: Štátna Galéria) specialized in contemporary Slovak art. The Museum of the Slovak National Uprising (Slovak: Múzeum Slovenského národného povstania) features a collection of 203,000 militaria, including an open-air exhibition of World War II heavy weapons. Other noteworthy museums are the regional Literature and Music Museum (Slovak: Literárne a hudobné múzeum) and Slovakia's only Postal Museum (Slovak: Poštové múzeum Slovenskej pošty).

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. The oldest one is the award-winning Urpín Folklore Ensemble, founded in 1957. Mladosť Folklore Ensemble is affiliated with University of Matej Bel.

Sport

FK Dukla Banská Bystrica is the local football club, playing in the top Slovak football league, the Corgoň Liga. They have their home ground at SNP Stadium, with a capacity of 10,000. Other clubs based in the city include the non-Extraliga ice hockey club HC05 Banská Bystrica and the basketball club BKP Banská Bystrica.

Government

The city is governed by a mayor and a city council (Slovak: mestské zastupiteľstvo). The mayor is the head of the city and its chief executive. The term of office is for four years. The current mayor, Ivan Saktor, was nominated in 2006 by a coalition of the political parties Smer-SD, SNS, and SZ. The council is the city's legislative body. Among 21 councilors, the absolute majority (14) currently support the mayor's coalition of Smer-SD and SNS. The last municipal election was held in 2006 and councilors are elected to four-year terms concurrent with the mayor's. Banská Bystrica is divided into four electoral districts, consisting of the following neighborhoods:

Staré mesto, Uhlisko, Prednádražie, Šalková, Senica, Majer (7 councilors)
Kráľová, Iliaš, Kremnička, Rakytovce (4 councilors)
Radvaň, Fončorda, Podlavice, Skubín (11 councilors)
Sásová, Rudlová, Uľanka, Jakub, Kostiviarska (10 councilors)

Banská Bystrica is the capital of one of eight considerably autonomous Regions of Slovakia. It used to be the capital of an even larger region, encompassing whole central Slovakia since 1960 until 1990, but this territory was divided in 1996 into the Banská Bystrica, Žilina and partly Trenčín regions. Banská Bystrica is also the capital of a smaller district. The Banská Bystrica District (Slovak: okres Banská Bystrica) is nested within the Banská Bystrica Region (Slovak: Banskobystrický kraj).
   In addition, several national public institutions have their headquarters in the city. The most prominent ones are the Tax Directorate of the Slovak Republic and the public postal service (Slovenská pošta). Academy of Arts (Slovak: Akadémia umení) with 490 students is specialized in performing and fine arts. A satellite campus of the Slovak Medical University is also located in the city.
   There are 15 public primary schools, two private primary schools, and two religious primary schools. Overall, they enroll 7,029 pupils. seven specialized high schools with 2,873 students, and six vocational schools with 1,884 students.
   The largest library is the State Scientific Library with 2 million volumes. The geological institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences has a branch in Banská Bystrica and the small Banská Bystrica Regional Astronomical Observatory is located on Urpín Mountain.

Transportation

Banská Bystrica has bus and train connections to the rest of the country, as well as to many other European cities. The Motorroad R1 connects the city to Zvolen Slovakia's capital Bratislava. Some parts of this fast motorroad are still under construction and the remaining work is planned to be completed by 2010. Other roads of state importance connect the city to Brezno (No. 66), to Ružomberok (No. 59) and to Turčianske Teplice (No. 14).
The international Sliač Airport offers scheduled flights to Prague and charter flights to other destinations.
Public transport in the city is managed by two different companies. Dopravný podnik mesta Banská Bystrica is a public service run by the municipality. It operates trolleybuses and minibuses. The private company SAD Zvolen has a fleet of buses. In addition to regular lines, it also offers express and night lines. 30% of people use their private cars for journeys to work and the average commute time is 35 minutes.

- Alba, Italy, since 1967

- Durham, United Kingdom, 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

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