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Being the economic and cultural centre of eastern Slovakia, Košice is the seat of the Košice Region and Košice Self-governing Region, and is home to the Slovak Constitutional Court, three universities, various dioceses, and many museums, galleries, and theatres.
- Hlavná Ulica
- St Elisabeth Cathedral
- Urban’s Tower
- St Michael Chapel
- Immaculata
- State Theatre
- Mikluš Prison
- Levočský Dom
- Beggar’s House
- Old Town Hall
All of Košice’s historic monuments are concentrated onto one glorious street. In the north, at the Immaculata monument, the street breaks off into two parallel branches. On the outer edge of the street are stately palaces, municipal buildings and townhouses. On the inside are the city’s main sights, all in a line and interspersed with squares, foun...
With pride of place on Hlavná Ulica is the westernmost Gothic cathedral in Europe, and also Slovakia’s largest place of worship, begun in 1378. The cathedral is unusual as its north portal, rather than its west or south, is the one that is most ornamented. Pause beneath the relief in the tympanum showing people arriving at the gates of heaven, the ...
Next to the cathedral is its former campanile, which was raised during the 15th century. These days the inside holds a small waxwork exhibition of famous people from Košice’s past. Urban’s Tower is also in the Gothic style, but with little extras added down the years like the portal, which was carved in the 17th century, and the arcades on the corn...
The last of the ensemble of Gothic monuments clustered around the cathedral is this lovely chapel constructed in 1300s. Found where the city’s cemetery used to be, it was initially an ossuary dedicated to St Michael, the patron saint of the deceased, and like Urban’s Tower it has ledger stones in its outer walls going back to the 1370s. In the 17th...
In a little fenced enclosure at the upper end of Hlavná Ulica is Košice’s elaborate plague pillar. It’s a Baroque Marian column, capped with a sculpture of the Virgin and erected in the 1720s to praise her for ending the plague epidemic that had hit Košice in 1709-10. Around the pedestal are statures of St Sebastian, St Ladislaus and St Joseph. And...
Košice’s striking Neo-Baroque opera house is also on Hlavná Ulica and replaced the first theatre which went back to 1756. It was designed by the German-Hungarian Adolf Lang who specialised in that bold Historicist style and contributed many grand monuments throughout Hungary. In the lavish auditorium, tilt your head back to see the painstaking deta...
On an alley off Hlavná Ulica is a compound of two medieval houses, which in the early 1600s were converted into Košice’s city prison. It’s strange to think that for 350 years before that point these had been everyday homes. The prison is a testament to the city’s harsh penal system, in which over 60 crimes were punishable by execution. Inside, you’...
Right by the State Theatre on Hlavná Ulica is Slovakia’s oldest inn, which has stood here since the 15th century. For almost all that time it has been in the hospitality business, and owned by some of the most important figures in the city. One event that happened here was the wedding reception for Gabriel Prince Bethlen of Transylvania and Catheri...
Overlooking the Immaculata is a gorgeous Art Nouveau house dated to 1898, and one of the prettiest in the Košice. Just under the gable there’s a mural of Elizabeth of Hungary and above it is a statue of a beggar, doffing his cap to people on the street below. According to legend this career beggar got rich from the generosity of the citizens, and n...
As good a place as any to start your visit to Košice, the Old Town Hall now hosts the city’s visitor centre and tourist office. This fine building was finished in 1780 at the transition from Baroque to Neoclassical. An interesting piece of trivia is that the Russian field marshal Mikhail Kutuzov stayed here on his way home after the defeat to Napol...
- The plague pillar. Located right in the middle of Hlavna Street is the so-called Plague Pillar, a 14 m-tall Baroque plague column. It was created in the 18th century as an expression of gratitude to the Virgin Mary at its top for ending the plague epidemic from 1709 and 1710.
- Church of the Holy Trinity. On your way down Hlavna Street, you’ll pass the Church of the Holy Trinity, also commonly known as the Premonstratensian church or the Jesuit church.
- Hrnčiarska street. Hlavna Street is home to many interesting buildings, but the most charming street in Ko šice is Hrnčiarska – the crafts street. This little alley has a craftsman shop, bakery, bars, metalworkers, and more.
- St. Elisabeth Cathedral. Close by is St. Elisabeth Cathedral, the one thing you HAVE to see in Ko šice. Completed in the 16th century, it’s the biggest cathedral in Slovakia and the easternmost Gothic church in Europe.
Learn about the history, culture, and attractions of Košice, the metropolis of the East and the first city in Europe to get a coat of arms. Discover its unique gothic cathedral, rich archaeological sites, and diverse nationality heritage.
The second biggest town of Slovakia KOŠICE is not only the centre of eastern Slovakia but also the core of the Eastern Carpathians where several ethnicities live. The city KOŠICE (population 242,066) on the Hornád river on the western edge of the Košická kotlina basins has a long and agitated history and its present is also dynamic.
Equal parts pretty and gritty, Košice captures attention with its old town, a jewellery box of Gothic towers, medieval bastions and baroque sculpture. The pride of Eastern Slovakia's largest city is its central square, which boasts the country's greatest concentration of historic monuments.
Since 1945 Košice’s population has more than doubled, and the city is now the political, economic, and cultural centre of southeastern Slovakia. Košice lies between the mineral-rich Slovak Ore Mountains to the west (with iron ore, magnesite, and limestone) and a fertile agricultural plain to the east.
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