Town house on Bakossová street 2 in Banská Bystrica - Waterworks house
The waterworks house was built in 1562. A major reconstruction took place in the 17th century, when they rebuilt it, expanded it, and built a floor with an interesting building element, a bay window. It acquired its Renaissance style after reconstruction at the beginning of the 20th century. During the last reconstruction in 2012, it was connected to the adjacent building. There used to be a ditch in the neighbourhood of the house, which was filled between 1781 and 1785. The ground floor rooms are vaulted with a barrel vault; the upper floor has lunette vaults with stucco decor. This detail is the work of Master James III. di Pauli, who came from an Italian family of builders and participated in the reconstruction of several bourgeois houses in Banská Bystrica.
The house was named after the resident for whom it was built. He was the city's water master "wassermann", who took care of the city's water supply and sewage system. In the middle of the 16th century, drinking water was distributed in the city through pipes made of red spruce, and the city had a sewage system made of stone tiles. Wassermann also regulated the inflow of water from two collection points. According to one of the legends, a secret passage led to the cellar of the Waterworks House from the "Pharhoff" (Parish Major) mansion across the road. The manor house was the home of the monks and the winter residence of the city priest. The waterman was allegedly not the only one who had access to water regulation in the city.
In addition to Wassermann, the master trumpeter and composer Anton Július Hiray also lived in this house. In 1802, he composed the baroque composition "Banskobystrický pochod" in honor of the arrival of the Hungarian Palatine. Later he held the post of tower master and was also an organist in the parish church. Anton Július Hiray is considered one of the last representatives of the trumpet tradition in Slovakia. The world-famous architect Ladislav Hudec was born in Vodárenské dom, who became famous for the many buildings he designed and built in distant Shanghai.
