The plague-Marian column was built in 1719 after one of the devastating plagues (the biggest one was in 1601, when approximately half of the city's population died - 1392 people). The Jesuits were responsible for the construction of the first Marian column, who had a statue of the Virgin Mary built in the place where public executions were carried out in the Middle Ages.
After one of the plague epidemics ended in 1679, the construction of the column began two years later. However, its lifespan was not long, because during the Tököli uprising, the troops demolished the column despite the promise to leave it intact. The ruins of the column were transported to Slovenská Ľupča. After the end of the difficult years and the end of František Rákoczi's uprising, the Jesuits again asked the city authorities to erect the Marian column in the same place. The new column was installed in 1719.
The Marian column in Banská Bystrica is 13.2 meters high. The base consists of a double stepped staircase in the shape of a hexagon, on which there is a three-sided plinth. On the base is a classicist column, consisting of a foot, shaft and Corinthian capital, on which there is a statue of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, 2.45 meters high, since 1897. However, it is interesting that the column was originally surrounded by a stone railing. In 1964, the Marian Column was moved to the area of the former Promenade near the castle grounds in connection with the visit of Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev, as it did not suit the ideology of the time. After the reconstruction of Námestia SNP, it returned almost to its original place in 1994, and the then bishop Rudolf Baláž re-consecrated it on the feast of the Immaculate Virgin Mary in December 1994.
In past years, the pillar was also studied from the point of view of so-called geomancy - the powerful effect of certain places on a person. This force action should bring beneficial energy and strength to a person. Under the statue, you need to stand exactly where the Virgin Mary's gaze is directed.
