Košice

Metropolis of Eastern Slovakia The city, where I was born is Kosice, and thats why I would like to say you somethihg about this city. First, I tell you something about its history, than about places of interest, and the last will be its cultural life. Košice is the second largest city in Slovakia, has about 240 000 inhabitans. It is also the main center of the Košice self-governing region, in which are concentrated the most attractive tourism destinations of Slovakia. Košice is situated in the east of the country, just 20 kilometers from the Hungarian border, 90 kilometers from the Ukraine, and 80 kilometers from the Polish border.

Kosice ranks among warm lowlands towns. History There is no historical document referring to the origin of teh settlements of Kosice. But it is evident that the territory was settled much earlier then it is mentioned in the first written document . The first wrtitten document about the town of Kosice comes from 1230 when the Hungarian King Andrew riegned. Kosice is mentioned in the document Lubinská listina as "Villa Cassa". In 1347 Kosice was granted privilegies by the King Louis the Great, so Kosice became the second most important town in Hungary.

This importance was maintained due to the geographical location at the crossroads of ancient trade routes and development of trade and crafts related to this location. In 1369 King Louis the Great granted the town its coat of arms. It was for the first time in European history that a town was granted a coat of arms based on a royal degree. The rich history left in the town many historical monuments. In 1657 the University of Kosice was established. An interesting event in the history of the town was the discovery of the socalled treasure of Kosice.

Today it forms part of the permanent exhibition of the East Slovak Museum. The town of Kosice garned on importance after the World War II., after the East Slovak Ironworks were established. The ironworks of Kosice became the biggest company in Slovakia - it's called U.S. Steel. Kosice is an education centre with 4 universities: the Pavol Jozef Safarik University, the Technical University, the Veterinary University, the University of Economics. Places of interest Most historical sights are situated in the Main Street, which used to be the main sguare in the Middle Ages.

There is the St. Elizabeth's Cathedral, which was built in beautiful works of art for example the stained - glass windows and the main altar made in Late Gothic. Close to the catedral to the south there is St. Michael's Chappel which is odler than the Cathedral. Urban's Tower stands at the nothrn side of the Cathedral. It is a Gothic belfry built in the 14th centrury and rebuilt after a fire in the Renaisance style in the 17th century, becouse the huge 5 - ton bell that used to hang in it was broken.

The Theatre of Janko Borodac - there are wall paintings with scenes from Shakespeare's plays Othello, Romeo and Juliet, King Lear and A Midsummer Night's Dream. In the north there is the Immaculata Statutary that used to be a place of executions. It commemorates the plague which raged in Kosice at the beginning of the 18th century. There are severatl museums in Kosice. The largest is the East - Slovak Museum.

Museum owns about half a milion of objects covering very different areas such as nature, archeology, ethnology, history, art, crafts, photography. Slovakian Technical Museum with rich collection of exhibits of the different scientific and technical disciplines.

Cultural life Kosice Music Spring - festival established in 1955 became an important cultural event. Guarantol of the festival is the State Philharmony in Kosice. International Organ Festival - was iniciated by the State Philharmony in Kosice. Festival of Spiritual Arts - presents Slovak and foreign artists.

An important event in the town's life is the each year organized International Peace Marathon established in 1942 as Marathon of Kosice. It is the oldest European marathon. Attractive for the visitors of Koscie is its Botanical Garden, ZOO and a bobosled run In Kavecany. Bobosled run in Kavečany This is the first attraction of its kind in Slovakia, dealing with recreational-sport equipment geared toward both children and adults.

In an uncut scuttle you set out in the cars, whose speed can be regulated by hand brake. The run is 800m long and brave warriors ride at speeds of up to 50 and 60km per hour. The Botanical Garden The botanical garden UPJS, as the only institution of its kind in Košice, was founded in the year 1950. At present it is spread over an area of 30 hectares from which greenhouses of tropical and sub-tropical vegetation cover 3500m2.

In over four hectares of the exposition decorative flora is found The ZOO Near the village of Kavecany, an outlying part of Kosice, the largest zoological gardens in Central Europe can be found, with an area of 2.783 km. Visitors here can get a close look at all of 107 species of animal, mostly ungulates and birds, though several more exotic creatures are also present. Gayser in Herľany - the only cold geyser on the European continent. This geyser spurts water once every 32 to 34 hours. Each eruption lasts about 25 minutes and water squirts up to 15 m.