In the following article I explore how a body of selected historical events and processes are constructed and utilized by local authorities and cultural institutions in former mining city of Banská Štiavnica, Slovakia. I focus on local narratives and practices which I perceive as a local historical discourse. I argue that this discourse is a main source of metaphors constructing local identity and depicting local material and nonmaterial cultural heritage. I recognize the following metaphors: “the myth of pioneers and longue durée” and „the rhetoric of fight: fight against nature and history”. These key-metaphors serve as a guide for explorations of local identity and city` cultural roots.