Banska Bystrica Castle

Banská Bystrica, Slovakia, Slovakia

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Banská Bystrica Castle, also known as the Town Castle, is a historic fortified complex in the central square of Banská Bystrica, Slovakia, originally built around a 13th-century parish church to safeguard royal mining revenues from copper and silver. Fortifications expanded in the 15th century with stone walls, bastions like Farská, Banícka, and Pisárska, a moat, and a prominent barbican gate featuring drawbridges and Renaissance-era upgrades against Turkish threats in the 16th century. Today, it houses the Slovak National Uprising Museum amid remnants of its medieval defenses, including three surviving bastions and Gothic elements like Matej's House.