Banské Muzeum

In the fifteenth century this building was used as a mining court house. The wealth of the area is based on the thirteenth century silver mines. The museum houses an important geological collection and has some fine mining displays.

Not to be missed is the underground tour. The visitor is kitted out with helmet and overcoat and taken on a tour of the seventeenth century Ondres Silver Mine. The narrow, damp passages give a dramatic impression of the terrible working condition of the miners in the thirteenth century and it is not for the faint hearted.

The surface exhibitions show mining through the ages and describe the technical innovations of the local mining school. Unfortunately information is only available in German and Slovak.

Text by Tony Oldham (2002). With kind permission.