Welcome to Kremnica

Kremnica is commonly attributed as golden. The coins minted in the past supported many rulers. The historical picture of Kremnica is made of the mosaic of stories hidden in every street and house...

Town Castle

It comprises of a complex of buildings from the 14th - 15th century and is protected by the double fortifications which are linked with one of the best preserved town walls in Slovakia.

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Skalka relax centrum

Prepared to serve to professional and also recreational sportsmen all year round. The most popular and most visited part of the facility is wellness, which allows to regenerate your body after more or less intensive training.

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Kremnica GAGS

The international show of polite humour, independent satire and cheerful recession of the old tradition (1981) takes place here every year in the end of August.

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History of the town

The origin and history of the town are closely related with golden ore deposits in its area

The oldest mining shafts originating, according to some experts in the 8th and 9th centuries, represent a significant trace of human activity in the area. Although the direct proofs are rare, it is supposed that gold mining started long before establishing the town - originally by panning, later by shallow subsurface mining. Kremnický brook valley was colonized by the Slovak and German miners and farmers before the 14th century.
Cremnychbana is mentioned in the privilege act of the Hungarian king Charles Robert of Anjou issued on November 17th 1328 (below), based on which the three settlements were joined into one administrative unit and resulted in the emergence of the free royal town of Kremnica. Economic and monetary reforms of Charls Robert were the impulse for its promotion - especially the introduction of the ruler's mining freedom, i.e. the cancelation of the monopoly of the ruler to mine the precious metals, development of the private entrepreneurship of mining companies, establishment of the royal mint near the mines and ironworks. The mint started to issue the new valuable currency - silver groschen and denarius together with golden florins or ducats.
The privilege act guaranteed Kremnica many privileges. The king gave it the land and forests in the area of two miles, the citizens (guests) were allowed to mine, to vote for the town council and reeve, who became the highest legal instance directly answerable to the ruler's court. A part of the inhabitants was native, but many new settlers arrived (guests), especially from the central Slovakian mining area and from abrioad (Italy, Bavaria, Austria, Silesia, Bohemia, Flanders); minters were invited mainly from Kutná Hora. Shortly, Kremnica became the seat of the royal mining and mint chamber covering 12 administrative units. From early 16th century it was a seat of the count (comes) who supervised the mining business and as the king's representative he supervised the mining and processing of the precious metals, the quality and purity of minted coins as well as collecting the taxes and tolls.
Kremnica's town law was based on the granted royal privileges, which the town had to had confirmed repeatedly; and from the general and mining laws (codified in 1492). In time the new privileges arose, such as the setting free of the royal taxes and capital law (1400), the right to tap wine and brew beer, the right for markets (1425), the right for fairs (1695).
First two centuries of the town's existence were the times of the biggest bloom. Except the supreme royal mining and minting office, Kremnica lead the economic and political union of 7 central Slovakian mining towns - Kremnica, Banská Štiavnica, Banská Bystrica, Nová Baňa, Pukanec, Ľubietová, Banská Belá (the oldest document of their meeting comes from 1388). The union served to protect their rights, decided the mutual political, military and economic questions, had the common court, seal, established the protestant church union, also had the common doctor, executioner and some guilds. Gradually the cooperation weakened and in the second half of the 19th century the union ceased to exist. Crafts and trade played an important role in the history of the town. Gradually they started to form guilds to protect their interests and control the quality of products. The oldest mention of guilds comes from 1465. There were food, textile, leather, wood, clay, glass, wasp and metal processing crafts, together with pharmacy, clockmaker and barber shops, bookbinding and organ production. The guild system was replaced by the system of businesses in 1872. Factory production was developing more intensely. Mils, brewery; brick, color, paper, pottery, leather, clay pipes, isolation materials, boxes, chairs and button processing plants belonged to the oldest.
Visits of rulers and other figures prove the special significance of the town. Kremnica was most likely visited by its founder Charles Robert of Anjou. Sigismund of Luxembourg (1404, 1419, 1423, 1424) and Matthias Corvinus (1478, 1479) were among the medieval rulers. In 1528, Ferdinand I and his sister Queen Mary administered the town personally. The visits of Francis I, Grand Duke of Tuscany (1751) and king Joseph II with his brother Leopold (1764) rank among the most important. They were prepared with all the splendor as they were prestigious for the town, the mint and mines in the era of renewed prosperity. Many relics remind us of the famous era. In 1852 the emperor Franz Joseph I made a stop in Kremnica on his route of Hungary. Bulgarian king Ferdinand I Coburg (1909) was the first to visit the town by an automobile. The income from the mining and minting had an impact on the education, culture and art in the town. Kremnica's schooling has the rich traditions with roots in the medieval times. Although the oldest written mention of the town school comes from the mid 15th century, it was here earlier. At first at the parish, later supported by the town. Town latin school belonged to the oldest in Slovakia. The girls' school was established in the 16th century. In 1768 the grammar school was established with the support of Franciscans. The tradition of strong schooling reflected also in the 20th century - gradually the whole system of the schooling institutions for the hearing-impaired children, various educative-social institutions appeared. In 1966 the High School of Applied Arts was established with the subjects of - engraving, smithery, casting, jewellery. While in the first half of the 19th century the town was experiencing the crisis as a result of cancellation of mining, in the following decades the situation improved by gaining control over the forest office and winning the forests at court. The outflow of inhabitants stopped and the town started to build schools. The construction of the railway Vrútky - Hronská Dúbrava in 1869-72 brought about the construction boom. Near the track grew new quarters and small industrial plants. Kremnica got a second breath.
Unfortunately in the 80s of the 19th century some sights were destructed due to the mining activity - the church of Virgin Mary Snežnej on the square had to be torn down (1880), the town hall in the town castle had to be lowered by two floors together with the walls (1887); a part of the town walls had to be rid off due to the traffic, Upper and Bystrická gates were torn down. The historical centre suffered the most at the end of the World War II, when it was burned with phosphor. After enlisting Kremnica in the list of the town monument conservation area, many destroyed buildings were sensitively replaced by new ones in 1950. Since the mid 19th century the production of the precious metal was on the steep decline. In Kremnica the contents of gold of 1-3 g per ton was on the edge of rentability. After the World War II, Kremnica produced 85 kg of gold annually. Underground mining ceased in 1970. In 1982 the extensive research began in order to renew the surface mining in the quarry Šturec, where the short-time mining went on during 1986-1992.