The history of the city began to be written in the 13th century. From the originally Slovak settlement of Bystrice – thanks to several families of Saxon colonists, who naturally created an economic-administrative and artisan base for mining production in this area, the importance of the settlement rose to such an extent that King Belo IV. in 1255 he promoted it to a city.

The town of Banská Bystrica (Bystrice, Biztriche, Byzthercebana, Bystricia, Neusohl, Novo Solio, Neosolium, Beszterczebánya, etc.) is a very old settlement located on the “Via magna” road from Hungary to Poland, which served as a starting point for copper mining. gold and iron. These metals were mined sometime around the beginning of our era in the vicinity of the city, and gold is certainly also found in its current parts. Originally, the Slovak settlement became more important after the arrival of miners from German-speaking countries, mainly after the Mongol (Tatar) invasion in 1242, when their king Béla IV. invited to the plundered land. The expansion of the settlement was apparently very fast, because already in 1255 it was granted the rights of a free royal city. City rights were originally granted only to Saxon guests, but the Slovak population later won a decision-making position as well, so after a year a German magistrate alternated with a Slovak one. The development of the city was mainly connected with the mining of copper ores in the area between Starý Hory (Altenberg) and Spania Dolina (Herrengrund). Although copper was mined here probably already in prehistoric times, it gained industrial importance only in the second half of the 13th century. In the 14th century copper was already demonstrably exported to Venice. Through several European ports, Bystrica copper was exported to China, America, Africa and the Middle East. Spectral analyzes proved that most of the bronze products produced at that time in southern Nigeria contained copper from Banská Bystrica and its surroundings.