Štiavnické Bane was created by merging several small mining settlements.

Village of Štiavnické Bane

The village of Štiavnické Bane was created by merging several settlements, which were originally part of Banská Štiavnica. But it was the new mining procedures that made the village a centre for technology development and a cradle of technical education in Europe.

Remains of surface mining activity. When the surface wealth was exhausted in Štiavnické Bane, miners went fearlessly into the depths. – © Lubo Lužina

The former Hieronymite Monastery with the church, and the Renaissance bastion of the fortress built to protect against Ottoman attacks. – © Andrea Nižňanská

Rural people and miners lived modest and simple lives. Nature, work, and faith set the rhythm and the beauty is encoded into the simplicity of their houses. – © Andrea Nižňanská

The Vindšachta Water Reservoir—popular for swimming, fishing, and ice skating—is one of five belonging to the Piarg water reservoirs. – © Marián Jány

Remains of surface mining activity. When the surface wealth was exhausted in Štiavnické Bane, miners went fearlessly into the depths. – © Lubo Lužina

Ore mining started in Štiavnické Bane in the Middle Ages, but village had its apex of production in the middle of the 18th century. Importantly, it was likely here that gunpowder was used for the first time ever—to blast rock in the mines. Joseph Karol Hell, a great designer and inventor, built the core of a large water-management system of tajchs (water reservoirs) around the village. The importance of the settlement is reflected in the amount of technical mining landmarks that come from this community's ingenuity: mine tunnels, mining operation, administration buildings, and the tajchs.

The oldest preserved buildings here are from the 16th century and were part of the fortifications built to protect against Ottoman attacks. The complex of the former Hieronymite Monastery with St. Joseph´s Church, dating from the middle of the 18th century, dominates the village.

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