New Castle (Nový zámok)

The New Castle — Nový zámok — stands on the hill opposite the Old Castle, the two fortifications forming a defensive bracket around the old town. Built in 1571 at the height of the Ottoman threat to central Slovakia, it is a four-story Renaissance tower with corner turrets, designed purely for military observation and defense rather than as a residence. It is smaller and more austere than the Old Castle.

It now houses the Turkish Museum, with exhibits on the Ottoman campaigns in central Europe and the impact of the Turkish threat on the mining towns of Slovakia. The climb to the top is rewarded with excellent views across the town and surrounding hills. Visiting both castles in the same day — they are a short steep walk apart — is the standard approach.

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A story
The New Castle was built as a watchtower and lookout post in 1571, when Banská Štiavnica was the richest mining town in the Kingdom of Hungary and the Ottomans were advancing northward. Guards in the tower could spot approaching armies from miles away and ring the alarm. After the Ottoman threat receded in the late seventeenth century, the castle fell into disuse and eventual disrepair — its current restoration was completed relatively recently.