From the lowlands of the south to the rugged Tatras in the north; from beautiful rural valleys to huge, hideous unused factories; from the ubiquitous Soviet-era paneláky apartment blocks to baroque architectural gems, Slovakia forces the visitor to confront many aesthetic contradictions.



So no honest traveller would claim that Slovakia is uniformly – or even mostly – beautiful. The combination of the brutalist architecture of the former Communist regime and the unrestrained enthusiasm for outdoor advertising in today's capitalist era is in itself enough to dispel that notion.



But beautiful Slovak towns do exist. For many, Banská Štiavnica is the most beautiful town of all.