Anti-Turkish guard fortress, one of the dominant buildings of the town of Banská Štiavnica, situated in the Štiavnické vrchy mountains
The castle - or rather small fortress, was built as a massive prismatic tower, initially with a pair of round cannon bastions on opposite corners, later supplemented by the same bastions on the raised edges of the building. Originally, this building was accessible on the level of the floor by a tilting ramp and it was preserved in an almost intact form. The ground floor has a larger space vaulted by a cross vault carried by the central pillars. Other floors, except the vaulted rooms in the bastions, have straight wooden ceilings. The strong character of the building is enhanced by the massive semicircular entrance located on the first floor. The fort was later rebuilt, so today it has four floors with gunfire and cannon openings.To this day, the Nový zámok forms one of the distinctive landmarks of Banská Štiavnica. Since 1971 it houses an exhibition of the Slovak Mining Museum, which documents the period of anti-Turkish fighting in Slovakia. The castle is reconstructed and opened to the public. From its upper floor is a nice view of Banska Stiavnica. The expositions show a map of our territory during the Turkish occupation, images from the Turkish wars and on three floors are still weapons used in those times.
- 1 - prismatic tower
- 2 - original corner bastions
- 3 - corner bastions completed in the 2nd half. 17th century
The new castle was built between 1564 and 1571 on a hill near the Piarg Gate. The fortress, or watchtower, was named the New Castle, unlike the Old Castle, which they created from the original medieval parish church. The name Virgin (or also Girl's) castle is related to the name of the late Gothic church of Our Lady of the Snows and the Frauenberg hill on which the castle is built.
The building served as a defensive bastion due to its advantageous strategic location and was also part of the signaling system of the Union of Central Slovak Mining Towns. At the same time, it was to prevent the Turks from entering the city with numerous shooting ranges. Back in 1848, there were about 21 works on the terrace around the chateau. The Turks did not seriously endanger the well-fortified Banská Štiavnica. After the end of the Turkish wars, they stored gunpowder for mining purposes in Nový zámek. Later, a fire patrol was based here. Since 1971, the exposition of the Slovak Mining Museum has been located here, documenting the period of anti-Turkish fighting in Slovakia.
Despite the fact that this building bears the name of the castle, in history it had only the function of a watchtower, the nobility never lived there and was home only to soldiers who protected Štiavnica from the invasions of the Turks.
Barbora's message
Barbora Rösslová became an orphan. She inherited wealth from her father, a respected miner from Banská Štiavnica, and thus enjoyed her life carefree. The townspeople shook their heads at it, but she just laughed at the reprimand and did her own thing. It was not until Barbora did it when a gallows was built on the hill opposite the Rösslov house. She had the hangman in front of her eyes for days. To get rid of that view, she had a castle built at her own expense on the site of the execution site and continued to live an unrestrained life. But even Barbora's legacy was not inexhaustible. As her wealth waned, so did her friends. In the end, she was left alone in the world with a dog. As she buried it too, strange things began to happen. The corpse disappeared in the abyss, where they later buried the beggar Barbora. If it weren't for the Girl's Castle, around which a black dog with bloody eyes and blackened teeth is said to be running on dark nights, it would be completely forgotten.
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