[4] Although its permanent population does not exceed 200 people, it is a picturesque historic village situated 728 m above sea level and is surrounded by the Staré Hory and Veľká Fatra mountains.

Abundant deposits of copper and silver were exploited first by miners from Banská Bystrica and after 1494 by one of the first multinational corporations, founded by the affluent Fugger and Thurzo families.

In 1696, Edward Browne gave description of the mine of Herrengrund (Browne used the German name of the settlement), belonged that time to the Hungarian Kingdom, in his book: Brief account of some travels in Hungaria, Servia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Thessaly, Austria, Styria, Carinthia, and Friuli.

[5] Browne sent some ore to the prominent English naturalist, John Woodward, these are now in his collection in Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences, Cambridge.

[6] The prominent French thinker Montesquieu visited and described the copper mines in Špania Dolina upon the encouragement of Isaac Newton.

The so-called "Knocker" from the 16th century served as a special bell tower for calling the miners to work in the morning.