Interesting facts

The Tatra Madonna, the largest mosaic in the world, is made of 115,000 pieces of Slovak coins in three colours and covers an area of 52.5 m².

The State Mint in Kremnica, founded in 1328, is the oldest continuously operating company in Slovakia and one of the oldest mints in the world.

The first technical university in the world was the Mining Academy in Banská Štiavnica. It was founded on 13 December 1762, by a decree issued by Empress Maria Theresia of Habsburg-Lorrain.

The Bratislava horse tramway building is one of the oldest conserved station buildings in the world.

The Krásnohorská cave in the Slovenský kras is a cave with the tallest sinter column (32.6 m) in the mild climatic zone. It has been a UNESCO natural heritage site since 1997.

The fujara, a long (up to 1.8 m long) elderwood fipple flute made of elder wood, is a unique object of world importance originating in Central Slovakia. It was named a UNESCO intangible heritage instrument in 2005.

Bratislava, the capital city of the Slovak Republic, lies directly on the international border between Slovakia and Austria.

In 1238 the Hungarian King Belo IV of the Árpád dynasty granted city privileges to Trnava and Krupina as the first cities in the kingdom.