Central Slovakia Museum, Banská Bystrica
Founded in 1889, the Central Slovakia Museum, Banská Bystrica is the oldest continuous cultural facility in the town, which opened its first exhibition in 1909. In 1958 the museum relocated to Thurzo House, one of the most beautiful and typical houses of the historic heart of Banská Bystrica. From 1492 to 1540 Thurzo House was the headquarters of the Thurzo-Fugger Company, then one of the world's largest copper mining concerns. It was reconstructed into its present-day form in the second half of the 16th century. The so-called Green Hall (Zelena sien) is noteworthy for its late 15th-century preserved fresco fragment and wooden joist ceiling and for its Renaissance lunette vaulting with stucco embellishment.
The museum’s collection focuses on the history of Banská Bystrica and Central Slovakia, presenting in 12 rooms extensive displays of archaeological artefacts, medieval arms, coins and copies of historic documents. It focuses in particular on Gothic art, copper mining, the guilds, crafts and manufactures. A substantial part of the second floor is devoted to a display of bourgeois furniture and ethnographic material.
The museum manages the following two branches:
