Banská Bystrica - the Center of Slovak National Uprising

The town Banska Bystrica is a place, where a modern history of Slovakia has been written. During the 2nd World War, Slovakia was an ally of Germany, but lot of soldiers and Slovak citizens didn´t agree with this alliance. They decided to fight against German troops and became part of Slovak National Uprising. The administrative center of Uprising was Banska Bystrica. Unfortunately, the troops of Uprising were almost immidiately crushed after the breakout in August 1944 and the soldiers ran away to the mountains. They were hiding in the mountains until the arrival of the Red army in the beginning of 1945 and Slovakia was finally freed in April 1945.

The Memorial and the Museum of the Slovak National Uprising (SNP) in Banská Bystrica. It´s complicated structure and was built in 1960s. The building is devided into 2 parts, which represent 2 enemies fighting agains each other. The statue in the middle is called “Victim warn”.

The medieval times in Banska Bystrica are closely connected with mining and trade. The surroundings were rich in various ores and 2 important trade routes were crossing the town. The rich citizens of the town built their houses directly in the center of the town and created this colourful square.

In these small kiosks you can try local specialities as various meals and types of wine. The yellow tower in the middle of photo is the Clock tower. It´s leaning a little bit to the side so we have our own Leaning tower as well. This one is not leaning as much as the tower in Pisa. 🙂