The city is situated in the Breznianska basin in the middle of the upper part of the Hron river (on the right bank) close to the Nízke Tatry (Low Tatras). It is an important crossroads of the trade routes going from the Gemer region to Liptov, through Čierny Balog and Hriňová to the town Zvolen. It is a trade, cultural and industrial centre of the Upper-Hron region with the following suburbs: Bujakovo, Mazorníkovo, Predné and Zadné Halny.
Some findings from the Younger Bronze Age were found in the town surroundings. The oldest written reference about the city is from the year 1265, in the Liptov privilege of the king Bela IV. The city itself gained some of the royal privileges in 1380. In 1488 it gained the privilege to organise open markets. The lords of the Doczy family from the Slovenská Ľupča castle set fire in the city in 1517. In 1655 Brezno became a "free" royal city. Thanks to the mining industry (although not that developed than in other cities in the Central Slovakia) the city developed very quickly. Many guilds of boot-makers, tailors, coopers and weavers arose in the 17-th century. The local craftsmen produced clothes accessories and simple furniture, such as: hats, fur coats, peasant's shoes, belts and chests.
Iron producing industry developed especially in the 18-th and 19-th century. In the 19-th century the town had an important role in the national cultural movement. It almost became a seat of the national cultural institution - Matica Slovenská.
In the city you still can find the remains of city-walls from the years 1650 - 1678. In the centre there are some Renaissance townsmen houses that were rebuilt in the late-baroque style after the fire in 1779, a classicistic town-hall from the years 1779 - 1780 that was built at the ruins of an older renaissance town-hall (1589), an Evangelic classicistic church (1785 - 1787) and a baroque building of a monastery that was founded in 1694 and finished in 1713. In the chapel of the monastery there is a well-preserved gothic statue of Madonna from the year 1500 and two table pictures of St. Barbora and Dorothy.
In the centre there is also a Town's Tower from the year 1830, a Marian column (1741) and a Roman-Catholic church from the years 1781 and 1785 with baroque-classicistic interior. Only a sanctuary remained from the old church after it burned up in 1779. It was rebuilt in Renaissance style in 1619. A group of baroque statues symbolising crucifixion still remained at the altar.
In the old city town-hall there is a museum with permanent exhibition of the town's history and some ethnographic collections.
