Banská Belá: Holiday Apartment Among Churches, Mining and Tajchy

Banská Belá combines an impressive religious history with traces of mining and a landscape in which historic waterworks play a distinctive role. The parish church was built in the first half of the 13th century in the late Romanesque style and was consecrated in 1243. It preserves its original tower and an original late Romanesque window. Inside is a Neo-Gothic wooden high altar, acquired in 1896 at the Millennium Exhibition in Budapest.

Culture

Further details of the parish church date from more recent times: The wooden reliefs of the Stations of the Cross were created in 1985 by local woodcarver Ján Bazalka. The church complex was fortified with a wall in the 16th century; surviving parts of this fortification were reconstructed in 1985. The Church of Our Lady of the Scapular has its own history of development. It originated from a miners’ chapel built in the 15th century above a mine tunnel and was expanded with a nave in 1708. The Baroque-Rococo Chapel of Saint John of Nepomuk is another of Banská Belá’s important cultural monuments.

History

The area’s mining heritage is also reflected in the Belianska Heritage Adit, which is one of the technical cultural monuments in Banská Belá. The mining-history locality of Banská Belá–Nová šachta is documented by a prominent spoil heap in the centre of Banská Belá. Historically, Banská Belá was one of the seven Central Slovak mining towns and has preserved its rural character, shaped by the hilly terrain. At the same time, the town belongs to the Banskoštiavnický Geopark, which has been a national geopark of the Slovak Republic since 2016.

Traditions

Its religious history remains connected to a recurring tradition to this day: Since 1713, pilgrimages to the Feast of Our Lady of the Scapular have taken place in Banská Belá every year. The traditional cultural event “Výlov krokodíla”, featuring an extensive cultural programme, also takes place at the Halčiansky tajch. This distinctive folk tradition has existed since 1962.

Nature

The Halčiansky tajch belongs to the Štiavnica Tajchy system, a group of reservoirs built for mining in the 18th century. It is connected to the Halča valley of Banská Belá. Another mining reservoir is the Jasenica waterworks in the cadastral territory of Banská Belá in the direction of Kysyhýbel; Jasenica also belongs to the Štiavnica Tajchy system.

Getting Around

Banská Belá is connected by the standard-gauge Hronská Dúbrava–Banská Štiavnica railway line, known as Trať mládeže. It began operating in 1949 and replaced a narrow-gauge railway built in 1873. Regional bus services connect Banská Belá with Banská Štiavnica, Zvolen and Banská Bystrica.

Two cycling connections are also linked to the town. The Beliansky okruh can be ridden in both directions, starts at the Dinas plant in Banská Belá and ends in the centre of Banská Belá. Štiavnicka Anča is a green-marked cycling route that can be ridden in both directions and ends at the Banská Belá orientation point.

Other Places

Additional references to nearby places lead to Podhorie, Štiavnické Bane, Banska Stiavnica, Svätý Anton, Vysoká, Ilija, Banský Studenec and Kozelník.

For the higher-level travel overview: Okres Banská Štiavnica.