Things to do
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Banská Štiavnica Calvary
A baroque pilgrimage complex climbs a conical hill in stages, with chapels and stations rising to two churches at the summit, built in the mid eighteenth century and left to decay under communism. Restoration has run for two decades and continues. The path up takes around thirty minutes and opens onto a view across the basin, best in clear autumn weather.
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Banská Štiavnica Old Town
Silver money built the terraced houses, the mining academy and the churches that fill this bowl in the Štiavnické hills, UNESCO listed together with the mining landscape around it. Trinity Square and its plague column sit at the centre. Streets climb steeply in every direction, and the artificial reservoirs called tajchy above the town serve as the local swimming.
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New Castle
White and square with four corner turrets, the watchtower was raised in the sixteenth century to signal the approach of Ottoman forces, and a trumpeter still marks the hours from it. Floors inside are given to the Turkish wars and reached by a tight staircase. Its hill position makes it the clearest landmark in town, and it pairs with the older castle across the valley.
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Old Castle
Converted from a parish church into a fortress against Ottoman raids, the complex keeps a keep, bastions and a tower climbed for the rooftop view. Exhibitions inside cover mining, local gunsmithing and a collection of iron grave crosses. It stands at the upper edge of the centre, a short and steep walk from Trinity Square, and opening is seasonal.