The End of Innocence.(Banska Stiavnica)(Brief Article)

It was a jewel of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a proud Renaissance city made rich by the precious-metal and gem mines that brought it world renown. The little town of Banska Stiavnica, in central Slovakia, still retains much of its former splendor. The fortifications of a 16th- century castle stand watch on the enfolding hills, lushly green against a clutch of onion-domed churches. Solemn statues with heads bowed weather in the cobblestoned village square, flanked by ancient and intricately wrought street lights and medieval buildings, built like bulwarks against the centuries.

Like so many villages of its kind in post-communist Eastern Europe, this old Hapsburgian treasure is dying. Over 200 years, Banska Stiavnica's population has shrunk from 24,000 to 11,000. During the communist era, many inhabitants relocated to "modern" concrete apartment blocks on the outskirts. More have moved away altogether, lured by the bright lights of newly enlivened larger cities and, of course, the West.

After 1989 and the end of the cold war, the town fathers nurtured a great hope for their heritage: tourism. In 1992, UNESCO put Banska Stiavnica on its list of world-heritage sites, authenticating it as an official cultural treasure. Little more than a two-hour drive from Budapest and Vienna (and less than six from Prague), it's exactly the kind of charming old European village that visitors would flock to in Italy, Spain or France. Its rolling hills and

turquoise lakes are typecast for romantic weekends and biking tours; its castles and churches are quaint and charming. Yet, as in scores of other such pretty places in the former East, the anticipated bonanza never materialized. Instead of the hoped-for hordes, Banska Stiavnica has seen just a trickle of tourists, half of them Slovak and the rest mostly from neighboring Poland, Hungary and Austria. Its prospects seem dimmer than in 1989.

Despite its UNESCO status, almost half of the ...