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Location:
Europe,
Slovakia, Banska Bystrica
Category:
City view
Description:
View of of the main
SNP square in the Banskobystrický
kraj town
Location Information:
Banská
Bystrica 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 Hungarian 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.
Most
of the historical monuments are
concentrated near its central,
picturesque SNP Square which teems
with flowers and street cafes in the
summer. The square is named after
the Slovak National Uprising. It is
dominated by a clock tower built in
1552. Although less known than its
famous counterpart in Pisa, it is a
leaning tower with the top 40
centimeters off the
perpendicular.[6] A plague column
(Slovak: Morový stĺp) was erected in
the square in the 18th century in
gratitude to the Virgin Mary for
ending a deadly plague. The column
was temporarily removed before a
visit of the Soviet leader Nikita
Khrushchev in 1964 because a
religious symbol was considered too
embarrassing a background for the
Communist leader's speech. 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. Other
major monuments on the square
include an Art Nouveau fountain from
the beginning of the 20th century
and a black obelisk raised to the
honor of the Soviet soldiers killed
during the liberation of the city in
1945.
Local
Weather:
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