Clay Pipe Exposition

The history of pipes in Slovakia began in the 17th century, when soldiers from foreign military troops brought them to the country for the first time. At that point in time, a pipe was a part of a man´s personal property and symbolised his social status.

At the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, workshops of pipes craftsmen started to bloom almost everywhere in Slovakia. The most famous pipe makers were clay pipe makers from Banská Štiavnica and their clay pipes called “štiavničky” were well known in Europe and overseas.

The most famous of them was the Karol Zachar Pipe Workshop. The workshop closed down in 1959 and it was the end of pipe making craft in Slovakia. However, much of this workshop has been preserved and its properties are today owned by the Slovak Mining Museum.

You can see this slice of history yourself because the old workshop items are now housed in the Old Castle. Here you can experience the clay pipe making technology in the Clay Pipe Exposition.