Slovakia Edition
World Street Corner Music Day leads today's complete edition for Slovakia.
Daily Edition
Official observances, world days, local context, and everyday celebrations for people who need something worth reading, sharing, or talking about today.
A day for songs heard from passing cars, markets, radios, festivals, windows, workplaces, and family gatherings.
The feast of St. Barbara, the patron saint of miners, is observed in the mining towns of central Slovakia, where silver, gold, and copper have been extracted from the mountains since the Middle Ages. The towns of Banska Stiavnica, Banska Bystrica, and Kremnica were among the richest in Europe, and the mining heritage is still visible in the landscape of shafts, tunnels, and tailings. On St. Barbara's Day, miners attend Mass and then process through the town carrying lamps and singing the miners' hymn. The day is a reminder that the wealth of Slovakia was built on what lay beneath the ground.
