Treasures of Selmecbánya

Itinerary

• From the center of Selmecbánya we follow the Z marking up to the saddle called sedlo Červená studňa.
• From the saddle we turn left onto the P marking, which runs on the side of Paradajs.
• Staying on the grader road, we follow the red-green-red nature trail marking, which leads to the Predné Rosniarky meadow.
• From the meadow we follow the P marking over the Tanád peak to the branch called Farárova hôrka.
• At the branch, we turn left onto the K marking, which we follow to a forest branch located on the far side of Horná Roveň.
• At the forest branch we switch to the S marking, which leads down to the dam of the (Tajch) Klinger Lake.
• Crossing the dam, we walk back to the center of Selmecbánya following the P marking.

Detailed tour description

Charming small town, Glowing Mountain

The excursion starts from the foothills, from the historic center of Selmecbánya (Banská Štiavnica), with a city walk. The reason why a town "sprouted" here, in the not at all ideal location at the confluence of narrow valleys, is thanks to the neighboring Glanzenberg, the "Glowing Mountain," whose silver vein reaching the surface already attracted the attention of the Celts. In the Middle Ages, miners liked to build near raw material sites to protect their precious treasure as closely as possible from robbers. (The town originally developed on the mountain, but the original settlement was destroyed during the Tatar invasion.)

Since 1993, the crooked old town protected as a World Heritage site makes concentration difficult due to its overall picture, detailed richness, and the absence of usual street-killing wires, but the large late Gothic St. Catherine Church (Kostol svätej Kataríny) still draws the eye. Built at the end of the 15th century, it is also called the Slovak church, as Slovak sermons were already given there by the mid-17th century. Our hike starts from the Z marking beside the church toward the Saint Trinity Square (Námestie Svätej Trojice) decorated with a robust Holy Trinity statue: this prominent monument was erected as a memorial to the "black death" that ended with half the town's population after the 1710 plague. Thus, figures of saints protecting against the plague and from the miners are visible among and around the supporting columns.

Today, lively restaurants, cafes, and pubs line the former main square, and the houses around the elongated, spacious marketplace in the center used to be the homes of the rich "waldbürger," mining estate owners originally German settlers. They were invited by King Béla IV to move here to continue ore extraction in the depths after the surface ores had mostly depleted in previous centuries. Their expertise was not limited to mining only: over time, they ventured into wine trading, which proved to be a profitable and more predictable business than mining. Apparently, this influenced the efficiency of the town's industry, as King Matthias forbade the waldbürger from switching to wine trading.

Lakes and clearings

Leaving the main square, it is worth looking back since above the houses appears the massive building of Újvár (Nový zámok), a later target of our tour. (On the right is the former Evangelical lyceum, where two important figures of Hungarian literature, Sándor Petőfi and Kálmán Mikszáth, studied. Only the memorial plaque of the former is placed on the facade.) As the street narrows at a steeper angle, the bustle disappears, and the buildings thin out until the town merges into the forest. A tiring climb leads to the right, pine-surrounded Nagy-víztározó (Large Reservoir, Veľká vodárenská nádrž). The turquoise-colored lake (tajch) is a popular bathing spot and, along with its upper neighbor, the oldest mining lake of the town, established in the 16th century. Although its water powered pumps already then, a similar hydroelectric system was only built in the 18th century. The second "silver age" network of Selmecbánya included 60 lakes filled with rainwater through long canals, connected underground by massive pipes to direct water where needed. The dam of the Large Reservoir broke twice, unleashing a water mass that demolished houses in the valley. Later, the reservoir was used only for fire protection and drinking water.

Not far above, we pass beside a small, almost filled-in pond, then at the end of the climb encounter a drinkable spring, ending at stairs imitating a mine shaft. A few meters ahead, we arrive at the Red Spring saddle (sedlo Červená studňa), where a lake of the same name lies. According to legend, it was named because the troops of Imre Thököly executed a Jesuit priest here, whose blood turned the spring water red. (The site is notable as the water divide between the Ipoly and Garam rivers runs across it.)

In the saddle, nature trail boards and a buffet are located; here we turn left onto the P marking, which leads along meadows and arable lands characteristic of the mountain range, opening views. The forested mountain area around Selmecbánya was nearly completely denuded during medieval mining, as timber for mine supports was harvested here. Those deforested areas have mostly reforested or turned into valuable, species-rich pastures, forming a mosaic now protected by Slovakia's largest landscape protection area. The flora and fauna's peculiarity stems from the mountain range lying at the boundary between the southern, warmer Pannonian region and the cooler, wetter climate of the northern Carpathian high mountains, so both neighbors' "migrants" can be found here.

The track continues through dense pine forest. Be alert, as the marking we've been following turns left, but we continue on the more exciting nature trail with red-green-red marking. This soon leads to a beautiful meadow, mainly opening a panorama to the neighboring Madaras massif and, at last, to the extensive surrounding mountains. The geological nature trail stations are worth inspecting, featuring informative charts and English texts presenting the genesis of the Selmec Mountains and the centuries of mining.

Ridge path above the town

After a short climb, we pass over the saddle of the highest block of the ridge surrounding the town from the west—the Paradajs (Paradise Mountain), at 939 m, which offers no view. Not so the large, downward-sloping clearing, to which the nature trail (joining the P marking again) leads out. From the Predné Rosniarky cleared area, Selmecbánya's most beautiful bird's-eye view opens: the town lies below, surrounded by the undulating basin landscape framed by forested mountain blocks. As the author of Turisták Lapja (Béla Sujtó) wrote: "The landscape wonderfully frames the ancient atmosphere town, seeming like a gemstone set in precious metal."

From the rest area sprinkled with rock piles, benches, and boards, on a clear day, we can spot the snowy peaks of the Low Tatras; nearby, the Calvary rises above the town, the Sitno mountain, our next goal, the Tanád peak, and a glimpse of the sea of the Selmec Mountains' peripheral ridges. If the air is not too hazy, the Karancs massif and Mátra range also appear. The idyllic spot also offers a view into the caldera: the 20 km diameter, heavily eroded basin formed after the emptying of the volcano's magma chamber and collapse of its center.

The caldera's degradation helped ores hidden deep beneath the surface and near it in the stratovolcanic structure to surface, underpinning the brightly profitable mining. The path turns right toward Tanád (P marking), descending to a small forest-edge saddle with a resting place equipped with a shelter and fire pit framed by trees. The narrow, exciting hiking trail then turns into a fir-dominated hollow, climbing steeply up Tanád over an open pasture. The wild, undulating track offers views alternating between the town and Madaras, sometimes enclosing pines, sometimes rocky ground, and opening wood screens. From the narrow, thrilling tourist path, a sea of forested ridges peeks westward behind each other—no wonder as we are in Slovakia’s largest volcanic mountain range. Before Tanád, we cross a real small rocky ridge, the summit marked by a sign.

From here, we can survey the densely wavy ridges and valleys toward the southwest, and the 932 m tall Tanád surpasses them all. An exciting underground feature runs here: the Joseph II tunnel carved under the mountain from 1782 for nearly 100 years. At completion, its 16 km length was the longest in the world; according to function, it conveyed mine waters down the valley. Important surface tourist facility remains include one of Europe's first marked hiking trails, leading beside the town since 1874 when the then-pioneering local tourist organization marked it (our path was constructed shortly after in 1886).

The fortified side of the town

The hiking trail continues along the narrowing rocky ridge, then descends uncomfortably steeply into a saddle. We cross the top of a ski slope, but the landscape opens opposingly, and above the meadows rises the double block of Sitno. The view of the mountain range's central basin does not cease while crossing a hump, then at a branch turning left onto the K marking. Presumably, we pass among depressions and tailings hills remaining from the earliest mining, entering the houses of Horná Roveň (Upper Róna) on shrubbed path. The street leads to a small flat square with a church on the edge of the mountainside break. Some buildings indicate this part of the settlement was also a mining site; the shaft is higher up on the side of Tanád. The marking soon leaves the asphalt. By a chapel, we switch to the S signs, descending along mixed forest promenades. We cross a road until reaching the dam of the pine-lined Klinger Lake (Tajch Klinger). This was designed by József Hell, one of the intellectual fathers of the hydroelectric system in the mid-18th century; its use may be described as a concentration of the area's technical feats: its released water powered 6 shafts and tunnels, generating electricity and driving two water-column conveyors before flowing over the mountains into the Garam.

Today, Klinger Lake is popular, although its location makes its waters somewhat cold as a forest bathing spot (with a buffet on the shore). It also has centuries of history: in 1850, it was declared a bathing area for miners' health and cleanliness, with pool rafts on the water. Women could use it in the morning, men in the afternoon. Crossing the dam, we now follow the P marking's romantically routed forest promenade winding around rocks. The route passes through a small gate and then offers a view toward Calvary beside a fence. Shortly, it merges with a street leading steeply down to the upper throne-like Nový zámok, where we can cross the Piargska brána (Szélaknai Gate), the only partly preserved representative of the town’s former gates. After the Mohács defeat, when the Turks pushed north, Selmecbánya’s defenses had to be strengthened. The building and wall, originally Renaissance style, were completed in 1554. They were remodeled in the baroque style in the 18th century before an imperial visit to serve more elegantly instead of a sacrificed defensive function welcoming Franz I.

A Gothic-style church bypassed, a short detour can be made to the Nový zámok. The rocket-shaped, squat building hosts an exhibition about battles against the Turks (for an admission fee), as it was part of the defensive line established against the Turks like the Szélaknai Gate. It also served for sending fire and smoke signals warning of danger, along with many other elevated buildings. If skipped, then only a walk down the atmospheric cobbled street remains, which is almost swallowed by the mountain-painted town. The alley-shaped narrowing street curves beside the brewery (Pivovar Erb) back to the square, from where our hike started.