Nová Baňa - ancient mining free royal town The earliest written reference to the community of Seunich and to mining itself dates from the year 1337. Rich deposits of gold ore gave impetus to its evolution and by the middle of the 14* century it was already an agglomeration with the characteristics of a town. Its destruction by the Turks in 1664, miners' uprisings and problems of ground water were the main brakes on development. The problem of inundated shafts was to be addressed by an "atmospheric fire machine", constructed here - the first of its kind in Europe - in...