Košice (is the capital of eastern
Slovakia and, with almost 240,000 inhabitants, the second most populous
city in Slovakia. The city is part of the Košice agglomeration with
367,000 inhabitants and the Košice-Prešov agglomeration, which with
555,800 inhabitants is one of the largest urbanized areas in Slovakia.
In 2013, Košice became the European Capital of Culture. Since 2016,
they have held the title of European City of Sport, since the same year,
the prestigious international film festival Art Film Fest has been held
here. By supporting the development of the creative industry and
information technology, Košice joined the UNESCO Creative Cities Network
in 2017, when it was awarded the UNESCO Creative City of Media Arts
status. In 2019, Košice was also awarded the title of European
Volunteering Capital 2019. The award is given by the European Volunteer
Center based in Brussels. Košice thus became historically the first city
from the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and, after Barcelona,
Lisbon, London, Sligo and Aarhus, the sixth European city to receive
this prestigious award.
Košice is the center of the entire
eastern Slovakia and the seat of the regional self-government - the
Košice self-governing region. They are an important center of political,
economic, cultural and church life, the seat of the Roman Catholic
Archdiocese of Košice, the Greek Catholic Eparchy of Košice, the
Michalovsko-Košice Orthodox Eparchy and the Constitutional Court of the
Slovak Republic. At the same time, they are an important university
center (the seat of three universities and one university, as well as
faculties and detached workplaces of other Slovak universities) and
eight institutes of the Slovak Academy of Sciences.
The city is
the center of important cultural institutions with pan-Slovak and
regional scope, which include the Košice National Theater, the Košice
State Philharmonic, the Slovak Technical Museum, the East Slovak Museum,
the East Slovak Gallery and the State Scientific Library in Košice. The
city has a varied national composition, the largest minority in the city
is the Hungarian minority (almost 3% according to the qualified estimate
of the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic) and the Roma minority
with a share of almost 2%.
The city plays a role in the East-West
transport link, where it forms a link between Eastern and Central Europe
on the one hand and Ukraine and Russia on the other through a
broad-gauge railway line. Košice International Airport mediates air
connections with Western and Central Eastern Europe for the catchment
area of Eastern Slovakia. The metallurgical and engineering industries
are represented in the city, a group of information and
telecommunication technology companies is located here, which is grouped
in the Košice IT Valley cluster.
A reflection of the city's rich
history is its center with numerous monuments of Gothic, Baroque,
Classicist and historicist architecture, which forms the largest urban
monument reserve in Slovakia (85.4 ha). Its most important landmark is
the largest sacred building in Slovakia - the Gothic cathedral of St.
Elizabeth's Cathedral. The main street, lined with palatial and
bourgeois houses with restaurants, boutiques and cafes, is the city's
promenade corse.
Kosice, Slovakia's second largest city, is located in a hollow on the
border between the mountain and the valley at an altitude of about 200
meters. Only a few suburban neighborhoods are built on the slopes of the
surrounding hills up to an altitude of 300m. This open basin to the
south is the Hungarian plain, into which the Hornad River flows somewhat
away from the centre. The center is represented by the Cathedral of
Santa Elisabetta and all the largest protected historical center of the
country.
Most of the places to see, restaurants and bars are
concentrated in the centre, and, without exception, the most beautiful
hotels in the city. Outside the city center are numerous apartment
buildings and building complexes built during the communist period.
Although these neighborhoods are practically devoid of tourist
attractions, you may need to go there if you are looking for cheaper
accommodation than in the central ones.
The surrounding mountains
form large wooded areas ideal for hiking. The proximity of the city to
mountainous areas to the west make it the favorite destination for
weekend excursions. It contains recreation centers accessible by public
transport, such as: Kavečany, Jahodná, Bankov and Čermeľská dolina.
Tourist information offices
1 Official Tourist Office, Hlavná 59
(In the city centre), ☎ +421 55 625 8888, info@visitkosice.eu.
2 MiC
Košice, Hlavná 32 (In front of the cathedral), ☎ +421 911484337,
info@MiCKOSICE.sk. Mon-Fri 9:00-19; Sat 9am-3pm.
By plane
Košice Airport (IATA: KSC) is the second busiest airport
in Slovakia. Over 400,000 passengers are handled here every year.
Austrian Airlines (Vienna daily), CSA Czech Airlines (Prague and
Bratislava daily, Kiev 3 times a week) and LOT (Warsaw 6 times a week)
fly to it on scheduled flights.
Bus line 23 runs from the airport
to the city center every 90 minutes (journey time 20 minutes), a taxi to
the city center costs around €10. There are a number of car rental
companies at the airport.
By train
There are direct train
connections from Vienna, Bratislava, Prague, Budapest, Lviv (Lemberg)
and Kiev to the renovated Košice main station.
On the ground
floor of the station there is also a supermarket and lockers, on the
gallery there are toilets (with showers), an exchange office
(8.00-19.00), which also exchanges the currencies of all Balkan
countries, the travel agency of a bus company for trips to Ukraine and a
cafe .
From Vienna there is a continuous Euronight, which takes
almost 9 hours. Otherwise there are several daily connections from
Vienna via Bratislava to Košice in 6½ to 7½ hours. Intercity trains run
several times a day from Bratislava to Košice in around five hours;
there are also regional trains every two hours, which take almost six
hours.
Two night trains run daily from Prague, the EN 445
("Slovakia") and the EN 443 ("Bohemia"), which reach Košice at 07:41 and
08:39 in the morning respectively. Both trains consist of comfortable
sleeping, couchette and seating cars from the Czech and Slovak Railways.
In addition, the Slovakia also carries car transporters to Košice (as of
September 2016). There is also a day and night connection between Prague
and Košice, which is operated by the private provider Regiojet (journey
time 8 or 8½ hours, prices from €9). However, the fastest connection
from Prague is the SuperCity, which runs once a day and takes just 7¼
hours for the journey. Trains from Prague also stop in Olomouc, Ostrava
and Žilina.
A continuous Intercity runs twice a day from Budapest
via Miskolc to Košice (journey time from Budapest 3½ hours, from Miskolc
1½ hours).
There are few Eurocity trains coming from Kraków. From
the direction of Ukraine (Lviv/Lemberg or Kiev) there is a continuous
night train that takes 11 hours from Lviv and 20½ hours from Kiev.
Otherwise you have to change trains in the towns of Tschop and Čierna
nad Tisou, which are close to the border. A regional train runs every
two hours from the Slovakian border town of Čierna nad Tisou to Košice,
it takes 1:50 hours.
Directly from Poland you can get there in
summer (around Pentecost to the first weekend in September), only on
Saturdays and Sundays with the two pairs of trains on route 188 via
Prešov to Muszyna, where you can get from Kraków with regional trains.
By bus
The Košice bus station is diagonally across the station
forecourt. There are numerous bus connections from neighboring countries
(Poland and Ukraine) to Košice. The domestic timetable, sorted by
destination, takes up the entire front of the hall. International
connections can be found on a square advertising pillar in the hall. The
international route counter is to the right of the main entrance. An
important provider is Eurolines with buses u. a. from Zurich (18½
hours), Frankfurt am Main (17:45 hours), Munich (14½ hours), Vienna
(8:45 hours), Budapest (3:45 hours). It is much cheaper to travel with
Ukrainian bus companies. There are discounts for seniors, students and
children and possibly for early booking. There is only one early-morning
regional bus to nearby Hungary.
Leo Express runs from Uzhhorod to
Košice once or twice a day. You drive five hours and pay 7 €.
Eurobusways offers minibus shuttles from Kraków Airport to Košice. The
journey takes three to four hours and costs €40 per person (but there
must be at least three passengers together). You will be taken to the
front door.
In the street
Arriving by car is relatively
lengthy. From Bratislava, a motorway first leads via Trenčín to Žilina.
From there, the motorway is only expanded in short sections, you drive
on picturesque but heavily loaded country roads through the Tatras. The
last 30 km from Prešov are again developed as a motorway. Alternatively,
you can also travel via the Trnava-Nitra-Zvolen route.
The
motorway network is currently still largely limited to the west of
Slovakia, but work is being done to open up the east.
From the
east of Austria, you can take the Hungarian motorways via Budapest and
Miskolc. This journey is significantly longer, but possibly faster. In
terms of landscape, however, the journey is less interesting, since the
route largely leads through the Hungarian lowlands. You can also travel
from northern or eastern Germany via Poland (Breslau-Krakow-Rzeszów) and
Prešov.
Coming from the Ukraine (Uschgorod), the 70 km are
developed as normal country roads, waiting times of a few hours are to
be expected at the Ukrainian border.
Basically, driving a car in
Slovakia is no problem, but the blood alcohol limit is 0.0!
Košice has a well-developed transport network with trams, buses and
trolleybuses. The lines running from the central transfer point at the
station forecourt all run in the direction of the city centre. There is
a tram ring around the city centre. Operating times are from around 5
a.m. to around midnight. There are also lines with a prefix "R" - for
example "R1". These go to the steel mill. Their travel times are based
exclusively on the needs of the employees. In the early hours of the
morning, before the normal lines start operating, they can be an
alternative as they connect all parts of the city with the steelworks.
The timetables of all lines are posted at the bus stops. Of course,
there are also bus routes to the steel mill - also with an "R" in front.
If you want to go there, you can also go to the 3 Hutníky regional train
station.
Single (€0.90, 30 mins with changes) and day tickets
(€3.20 for bus and tram are available from orange machines at major
stops.
There is a night bus network.
The old indoor swimming pool in the City Park on Rumanová Street,
built in the years 1957-1961, was damaged and closed to the public in
the 1980s as a result of the release of the Mlynské nahon, which flows
near the building. Since then, it has fallen into disrepair, and its
restoration only began in connection with the European Capital of
Culture project, which gave the building a new purpose - transforming it
into the first art hall in Slovakia. The reconstruction in 2012-2013
left the swimming pool in the central area of the hall, which preserves
the continuity of the original purpose of the building with its new use.
In this way, the Kunsthalle offers a connection between the world of
water and culture. The multifunctional hall serves as an exhibition
space for the presentation of contemporary visual art, but also as a
concert hall with a capacity of 750 seats.
Barracks Kulturpark
In connection with the acquisition of the title of European Capital of
Culture 2013 for Košice, the area of former barracks and military
warehouses on Kukučínová Street was set aside for the creation of a
center for contemporary art and modern independent culture. Kulturpark
presents creations in all artistic fields, supports budding artists and
provides space for cooperation between the artistic and business
sectors. A festival of modern art, various concerts, exhibitions,
openings, staged readings, theater performances, film screenings, but
also creative workshops for children are organized in its extensive
premises.
Tobacco factory Kulturfabrik
The second center of
artistic creativity in Košice is Tabačka Kulturfabrik on Gorkého street
in the north of the wider center of Košice. The building of the former
tobacco factory from 1851-1854 was rebuilt into a cultural and social
center for exhibition and residential activities and various theater,
dance, music and multimedia productions. Tabačka includes a theater and
cinema hall, exhibition, discussion and concert spaces, a music
publishing house and a cafe.
A Creative Center for the Košice
Region will also be established in the Tabačka area for €18 million. It
will have spaces for training, modern studios, but also spaces for
scenic and visual art. The complete implementation of the center should
be completed by 2023.
The theater scene of the city of Košice is richly represented by a
range of state and independent ensembles. The biggest theaters usually
have sister studios in addition to the main stage. The National Theater
is a classical theater with a drama, opera and ballet troupe.
Performances take place in the historic building on Hlavná Street and in
the Small Stage, which presents chamber plays and comedies.
The
Košice Puppet Theater was founded in 1956, and in 1997, the Jorik drama
stage was created next to it. The Thália Theater, presenting its
performances in Hungarian, was opened in 1969 and in 1995 it opened the
Theater Ensemble of Márai. Another national minority theater in Košice
is the Romathan Theater, founded in 1992 as the only one of its kind in
Slovakia. He presents his performances in Romanian and Slovak.
After 1989, a number of alternative theaters were created, the most
important of which was the Old Town Theater founded in 1997 by the
legendary Košice acting couple Ľubica Blaškovičová and Peter Rašev.
Others are the Mashreta Theatre, the Perón Theatre, the Suitcase Theater
and the Cassia Dance Theatre. Many of them were involved in the Košice
2013 European Capital of Culture project.
The first Urania cinema in Košice was opened in 1909 (it closed in 1940). Several movie theaters were established in the city center during the First Republic period (Úsmev, Slovan) and during the socialist regime (Partizán, Tatra). In 1973, they built a large-capacity panoramic Druzhba cinema with a capacity of over 500 viewers on the Terasa estate. Before the introduction of multiplex cinemas in 2008, there were still five traditional cinemas in the city. The seven-screen multiplex cinema is part of the Atrium Optima shopping center, the four-screen multiplex cinema is located in the Galéria shopping center. Since 2015, the traditional "stone" cinema Úsmev has been operating an alternative art cinema for demanding viewers, operated by the Cinefil association.
The Košice State Philharmonic was founded in 1969 as the second professional symphony orchestra in Slovakia. In addition to his active concert activity at home and abroad, he also presents musical art through recordings for radio, television and record companies. He is the organizer of three international festivals: the Košice Music Spring, the Ivan Sokol International Organ Festival and the Festival of Contemporary Art. The seat of the Philharmonic is the House of Arts. The Hemerkov Music Society and the Košice Conservatory also contribute to the festival of classical and organ music.
The oldest folklore group from Košice is the Čarnica folklore group,
founded in 1957. The legendary folk storyteller Ján Pisančin alias Ander
from Košice also came from its ranks. The folklore ensemble Železiar is
very well-known and popular in Slovakia. Others are folklore ensembles
Borievka, Hornád, Jahodná and a number of children's ensembles.
Košice folklore ensembles present the singing and dancing of the region
of Abova, Šariša, Spiša and other eastern Slovak regions. For fans of
folklore, the Cassovia Folkfest is organized every June with a tour of
local, Slovak and foreign ensembles. The Abov folklore festivals held in
nearby Rozhanovci have a regional character.
In Košice, a city with a rich history, the Hornouhorský museum
association was founded in 1872, the predecessor of today's East Slovak
Museum. It brings the history of the city and the entire region of
Eastern Slovakia closer to those interested in history in its ten
permanent exhibitions. In the main building on Náměstí Maratónu mieru,
there are historical, numismatic, goldsmith exhibitions and an
exhibition of the Košice Golden Treasure. In the opposite building of
the Division, natural science and art-industry exhibits are installed. A
new museum complex was created in the area of the Katova basta, the
eastern remnant of the Košice city fortifications. The exposition of the
history of the city with the executioner's apartment and the period
torture chamber in the Miklušová prison is the most visited museum in
Košice. In Katova Bašta, there is an exhibition of artistic metalwork,
and the replica of the Turkish house Rodošto attached to it is the main
exhibit of the Francis II exhibition. Rákociho.
The origins of
the Technical Museum in Košice date back to the war year 1943. Part of
its exhibits formed the basis for the construction of the Slovak
Technical Museum, the only one of its kind in Slovakia. In its 21
exhibitions, it covers the history of technology in all technical
fields. There are 13 exhibitions installed in the city itself, and a
planetarium is also located in the main building. The Aviation Museum is
located on the premises of Košice Airport.
The Vojtech Löffler
Museum is a specialized museum that was established in 1993 as a gift to
the city from the prominent Košice sculptor Vojtech Löffler and his wife
Klára. The basis of the museum is 2,000 exhibits from the master's
private collection. In addition, the museum is an important exhibition
space for three-dimensional art.
A Sándor Márai memorial room has
been set up in the National Minorities Club. This important writer, who
belongs to the world literary classics of the 20th century, was born in
Košice and in many of his works reflected his warm relationship to his
birthplace.
The Archaeological Museum documents the development
of the city's fortifications. It was created after the reconstruction of
Hlavná Street in 1998, when the city decided to open up the remains of
the medieval Lower Gate under a large concrete slab.
The newest
museum in Košice is the Museum of Victims of Communism at Moyzesova
Street 24. It was created in honor of the memorial to the victims of
communism. It allows visitors to see the stories of imprisoned and
tortured survivors.
The East Slovak Gallery was established in 1951 and currently records
6,400 works from the 19th and 20th centuries. In the main building on
Hlavná street, which is the Župný dom, the exhibitions Painting of the
19th century in Eastern Slovakia, Art of the 20th century in Eastern
Slovakia and Slovak graphics of the 20th century are located. The second
building of the gallery in a pseudo-historical style on Alžbetina Street
hosts the exhibition Július Jakoby - a selection from the work and
Košice in visual arts.
Popartová Mihal Gallery in Pri prachárni
street near the Cassovia shopping center offers an exhibition of 25
original paintings by the world-famous painter with East Slovak roots,
Andy Warhol. Among them is the famous work of Marilyn Monroe, but also
Wayne Gretzky, Hans Christian Andersen, Martha Graham and Teddy
Roosevelt. Other attractions of the gallery are some of Warhol's
silkscreens, the Hammers and Sickles portfolio, and the Annunciation
based on Leonardo da Vinci.
The KOPA DeSIGN gallery on Kováčská
street focuses on modern art, offering its space for exhibitions of
various artists. It also specializes in the graduation of beginning
creators.
The Košice State Scientific Library continues the rich library
tradition of the University of Košice, founded in 1657. The historical
fund represents 90,000 volumes of books from incunabula (prints up to
1500) to books from the beginning of the 20th century, mainly in the
fields of theology, law, medicine, history and natural sciences. The
current organization, founded in 1946, has the right to a compulsory
copy. The German Study Center of the Goethe Institute, the Information
Center of the Council of Europe, the British Center and the American
information and advisory center American Space in Košice (formerly
InfoUSA) operate alongside the library.
The public library of Ján
Bocatia is the oldest and at the same time the largest public library in
Slovakia. The library has seven branches in the largest city districts.
Its origins date back to the 17th century, and it has a separate
magazine reading room, music department and regional literature
department.
The Košice Youth Library is a specialized library for
working with children and youth. It has been in operation since 1955
with 20 branches, mostly in primary schools.
The historic center of the city is the largest urban monument reserve
in Slovakia. It was declared in 1983. Out of all the Slovak heritage
reserves, it also has the largest number of heritage-protected
buildings, 501.
The heart of the city is crossed by a lenticular
square - Hlavná ulica with a length of 1200 meters. The Čermeľský stream
ran through its middle. A modern imitation of the stream was installed
in the northern and southern sections of the street in 1996. The stream
created an island in the middle of the street, where the most important
buildings of the city were concentrated. St. Elizabeth's Cathedral is
the largest Gothic cathedral and at the same time the largest church in
Slovakia. It was built from the end of the 14th century until 1508. On
its southern side stands the Gothic Chapel of St. Michael, originally
serving as a burial church for the surrounding cemetery on the site of
today's park. The cathedral also has a separate bell tower, which is
still functional Urban's tower. The town hall was located in the
northern part of the island, but from the 18th century it was replaced
by a classicist redoubt with a theater. Today's monumental eclectic
building of the National Theater was built in 1899. The street is lined
along its entire length with bourgeois houses and noble palaces of the
Dežőfi family, the Čáki family, the Andráš family, the Barkó family, the
Meškov family and the Forgá family. In addition to the Cathedral, the
church buildings here include the early Baroque Premonstratensian Church
(also Jesuit or University Church) and the Franciscan Church, which was
originally Gothic and later remodeled in the Baroque style. The church
buildings of the archbishop's palace and the parish office, the
Ursuline, Franciscan and Jesuit monasteries, a dormitory and a priestly
seminary occupy the extensive plots. The administrative buildings of the
Palace of the Spiš Chamber of Commerce, the old and the new County
House, the City Hall and the Palace of the Hornouhora Chief Captaincy
are numerously represented on Hlavná Street. The most beautiful Baroque
monument in the city is the Immaculata Sculpture. In the north, Hlavná
Street opens into Námestia Maratónu Mieru. In its center is the Peace
Marathon Memorial. The representative buildings of the East Slovak
Museum and the Office of the Košice Self-Governing Region stand on the
square. In the lower part of Hlavná Street, the remains of the Lower
Gate of the city fortification were discovered. The Archaeological
Museum has been open here since 1998.
In the eastern part of the
historical center on the former Kalvín square, the Mikluš prison was
created by joining two Gothic burgher houses. Between it and the remains
of Košice's city fortifications, the Executioner's Bastion, is the
Calvinist Church. In the courtyard of the museum complex of the
Executioner's Bastion, they built a replica of the exiled Turkish house
of Francis II. Rákoci Rodošto. The picturesque Hrnčiarska street has
been restored to the form of a craft alley. On Mlynská Street,
connecting Hlavná Street with the railway station, there is a classicist
evangelical church. At the mouth of the street to the City Park, he had
the city architect Jakab build a palace in a historicizing style. In the
western part of the historical core stands the oldest preserved church
in Košice - the Dominican church with a monastery, which is also the
oldest standing building in the city.
On the northeastern slope
of Červené breh, there is the still-functioning Rozália cemetery, which
is a unique set of funerary historicizing buildings from the turn of the
19th and 20th centuries. It served for the funerals of the rich local
bourgeoisie and nobility from the beginning of the 18th century. Not far
from the cemetery is the Baroque complex of Košice Kalvária. Košice
Castle stood on Hradová hill in the Middle Ages. A significant part of
its foundations was archaeologically explored and uncovered in 1996.
There are many monuments in Košice, but the most famous of them is
the aforementioned Peace Marathon Memorial. Other important monuments
include the Monument to the Unknown Anti-Fascist Fighter and the
Monument to the Soldiers of the Soviet Army in Liberators Square.
There are 3 monuments in the Public Cemetery - the Italian Partisans
Memorial and the I and II Memorials. world war.
The monument to
the greatest traffic tragedy in Košice is the Memorial to the Victims of
the Tram 6 Accident (October 30, 1978) near the Košice Amphitheater.
The newest monuments in the city include the Monument to Ján Kuciak
and Martina Kušnírová created by Košice artist Peter Kalmus. The
monument was ceremonially unveiled on August 21, 2018. It is located
near the Church of the Holy Spirit. The second more recent monument is
from February 6, 2018, a modern monument to Bjørnstjern Bjørnson created
by architect Miroslav Beličák in the City Park.
There are also
many smaller memorial plaques and statues, especially in the Old Town
district.
The architecture of the 1960s in Košice is represented by Hotel
Yasmin (1960-1962 originally Hutník, renovated in 2007-2008) and Tesco
department store (1965-1968 originally Prior, from 2020 OD Urban). The
Slovan Hotel, completed in 1971, was reconstructed in 2007-2009 into a
DoubleTree by Hilton. The tallest building in the city remains the
monoblock New Hospital with a height of 83 meters, which was completed
in 1981. The largest administrative complex in the city, known as the
White House, was completed in 1985 for the then Communist Party
authorities. Today it is the seat of the Municipality of Košice.
A rare construction activity in the city in the 1990s was the building
of the branch office of the National Bank of Slovakia (1994 – 1996) and
Business Center I. (1994 – 1996, the former building of the now defunct
Priemyselna banka). In the years 2007-2011, it was supplemented by
Business Center II. In 2006, the city's silhouette was significantly
revived by the Steel Arena, which, with a capacity of 8,400 seats, in
addition to sporting events (Ice Hockey World Championships 2011 and
2019), also hosts concerts by foreign and domestic pop music stars.
The first modern multi-functional building with offices, 91
apartments and services was Cassovar from 2007-2012. It was built on the
site of a renovated Košice brewery, and it was the first revitalization
of the Košice urban brownfield in the wider city center. A significant
intervention in the urban structure of the center of Košice was the
construction of the shopping and entertainment center Aupark, together
with the Aupark Tower as a business center (2011).
After the construction stagnation in the 1990s and the 1st decade of
the 21st century, the construction boom in Košice was manifested only in
the 2nd decade of the 21st century after the financial and economic
crisis of 2008 subsided. The demand for apartments in Košice is
constantly growing, while the real estate market records higher prices
not only for new, but also for older apartments in the original Košice
housing estates, which means the arrival of a large number of new
residents, especially from eastern Slovakia and the surroundings of
Košice.
In the city district Západ between Trieda SNP and
Ondavská Street, the residential complex Nová Terasa, implemented by
Penta Investments, was added in 2013-2019. With 640 apartments, Nová
Terasa is the largest modern residential project in Košice, the first
two stages of which won the Building of the Year 2017 award - apartment
building of the year.
The Košice developer MM Invest Košice built
the Park Anička residential complex in the recreation area of Anička in
the city district Sever between 2014 and 2016. With 120 apartments, it
offers modern living in nature near the Hornád river. The project won
the Building of the Year 2017 award for its architectural solution.
In 2014, the Košice developer MM Invest Košice also started the
construction of the new Panoráma residential district in the Vyšné
Opátske district in the Heringeš area. It is a combined residential
district with living in villas, terraced family houses and apartments.
In 2015, the originally Dutch developer Cere Invest began the
construction of the Lorinčík Háje urban district consisting of a
combination of 267 residential units in family houses, townhouses,
villas and apartments. This new residential district stretches between
the Lorinčík and Pereš districts.
Another newly built residential
district is Zelená straň in the Košická Nová Ves district. Originally,
the Israeli developer Nes - Pan & Marada Development scheduled the
construction of ten blocks of the project with 314 apartments in three
stages between 2014-2020.
In the South part of the city, observe
a construction boom, especially in the vicinity of Kasární Kulturpark,
which, as part of the European Capital of Culture - Košice 2013, became
the main scene of cultural events and brownfield revitalization of
former barracks buildings. In the immediate vicinity of the Kasární
Kulturpark, the Košice developer Safran Slovakia built residential units
Šafránová záhradá together with 110 apartments in two stages between
2012 and 2015. In 2018, the same developer completed a complex of 54
terraced houses called Herberia on Žižková Street. New housing units
also started to be built on Blesková and Jánošíková streets.
The
territory of the wider center of Košice is constantly being further
densified in the Staré Mesto district with walking distance from Hlavná
Street. In 2019, the Bratislava developer Cresco Real Estate completed a
residential complex with the same name in the area of the national
cultural monument Mlynská bašta, in which there are 134 apartments.
The Austrian-Czech developer group CTR Group offered 359 apartments
in the Residence near the town hall on Strojárenská street, which it
completed in 2018. In 2019-2020, it is building another 120 apartments
within Business Center III. on Štúrová Street and on the northern edge
of the Staré Mesto district, the construction of the Albelli (Alvinczyho
– Bellova) residential complex with 390 apartments in five apartment
buildings began.
In 2018, 386,088 tourists were accommodated in Košice, which is an
increase of 5.45 percent compared to the previous record year of 2017.
The arrival of foreign visitors is also more significant, their number
increased by 9.9 percent year-on-year to 135,430, which was also
reflected in the increase in the number of overnight stays by foreigners
by 10.8 percent. Simultaneously with the growth in the number of
visitors, the revenue of accommodation facilities also increased
year-on-year in the region, by 7.81 percent to 22,558,763 euros for the
entire year 2018. The main part of the foreign guests was visitors from
the surrounding countries, namely - the Czech Republic, Poland and
Hungary . The number of visitors from Germany reached a year-on-year
increase of up to 30 percent. As of that year, there were 230
accommodation establishments in the city, of which up to 50 were hotels
or guesthouses.
The number of visitors to Košice reached 240,345
in 2019. The number of overnight stays in the city was 560,580 in 2019.
At the end of 2019, there were 117 accommodation facilities in the city,
which provided 6,807 beds. The share of visitors to Košice is 53%
compared to the Košice region. The visitor center was visited by 11,912
people throughout 2019. In August 2020, Košice also suffered from a drop
in foreign visitors caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic. The decrease was
65.1%, but on the other hand, the decrease was compensated by the
increase in the number of domestic guests by 21.4%. The total number of
visitors to Košice was 22.3% lower year-on-year.
In order to
increase the attractiveness of Košice and the Košice Region as a tourist
destination and to attract Western European tourists for long weekends
("city breaks"), the Košice Self-Governing Region established a regional
tourism organization in 2012, which is called Košice Región Turizmus.
The task of this organization is primarily to make the Košice region
itself more attractive as a tourist area and to attract as many visitors
as possible from foreign countries, mainly from Western Europe. Several
projects and events aimed at discovering individual destinations in this
region, such as Spiš, Slovenský raj, Gemer, Košice, Dolný Zemplín and
Tokaj, have helped with this. Another regional tourism organization is
an institution called Visit Košice, which provides domestic and foreign
visitors with information and opportunities to get to know the city
itself more closely, through an info center, website and mobile
application.
There are three tourist information centers in the
city. The first is the Košice Visitor Center, the second is the Regional
Information Point for the entire Košice Region, the third is MiC KOŠICE.
The Košice Visitor Center is located in the Old Town Hall building at
Hlavná Street 59, and the Regional Information Point can be found at
Hlavná Street 48. The MiC KOŠICE Information Center organizes regular
thematic tours of the city's sights and attractions under the name
Wanderings through the City of Košice, which are a very popular resource
for Košice residents to get to know their city.
The biggest attraction of Košice is its very historical core with
many architectural gems. In its center, on Main Square, there is the
Singing Fountain. A carillon in the shape of a tree hung with bells is
located next to the fountain. Every hour it plays one of its hundred
melodies, to which the nearby fountain also "dances". The picturesque
Hrnčiarska ulička is a craft alley with specialized shops. The Košice
Zoo, DinoPark Košice and the summer bobsleigh track are located in the
mountainous natural environment of the Kavečany district.
A water
ski lift is installed in the Nad jazerom district, on the area of the
local Lake. Part of the lake shore is made into a sandy beach. In the
vicinity of this beach there are volleyball and soccer fields, a sports
area for strengthening and a relaxation zone. The Beach Club sand
recreation area near the Municipal Indoor Swimming Pool in the city
center also offers beach volleyball courts.
The narrow-gauge
Čermeľská railway with historic steam locomotives runs in the recreation
valley of Čermeľské potok. Its final destination is the Alpinka suburban
recreation area with children's playgrounds, a golf course and a
paintball area.
The UPJŠ Košice Botanical Garden, founded in
1950, offers a tour of tropical and subtropical flora, decorative flora
and an arboretum. With tall greenhouses and a huge cactus collection, it
covers an area of 33 hectares.
Seven wonders of Košice
In
Košice, at the turn of 2008-2009, a survey was organized among Košice
residents about the seven wonders of their city. The results were
officially announced on February 22, 2009 in the historic town hall. The
unequivocal winner was St. Elizabeth's Cathedral. Behind it are the
Košice National Theatre, the International Peace Marathon, the Singing
Fountain, St. Michael's Chapel, Hlavná ulica and Jakabov Palace.
The largest city park in Košice is the City Park, founded in the
1860s between the railway station and the city center. In the 1970s, it
was slightly reduced in favor of new communication links in the
pre-station area. In the 1990s, a pond with an artificial stream was
established in it and the music gazebo was restored. The park underwent
extensive reconstruction in 2012-2013. The old indoor swimming pool from
1957-1961 on Rumanová street was converted into the first Kunsthalle in
Slovakia. The former art nouveau skating pavilion from 1909 was
renovated into a ball palace, behind which, after the renovation, the
first 5-star hotel in Košice, called Parkhotel Villa Sandy, was created.
The second most important park is located in the Barca district,
which is a protected zone with rare trees. In 1998, the southern pond
with aquatic flora was restored in the 7-hectare park.
A type of
longitudinal alley park is the park on Moyzesová Street. The Comenius
Parks East and West are located on both sides of Comenius Avenue.
There is an extensive forest park in the city districts of Dargovské
hrdinov and Sídlisko Ťahanovce. There is a pine grove between the Západ
and KVP housing estates.
Evening entertainment in Košice is concentrated in several locations.
Multiplex cinemas in the Atrium Optima shopping center on the
southwestern edge of the city and in the Galéria shopping center are
very popular. The opening of the Steel Arena in 2006 brought a quality
and capacity hall to the city. Performances of well-known domestic, but
especially foreign performers in the arena significantly enriched the
concert scene in Košice.
The center of Košice with its singing
fountain and illuminated facades of monuments is ideal for an evening
stroll combined with a visit to numerous restaurants, bars and pubs with
summer gardens on Hlavná Street. The more intimate atmosphere of
nightlife can be enjoyed on Vrátná Street, in the vicinity of
Dominikánske Square and Miklušová Prison. The club scene with trendy
bars is concentrated on Kováčská street, Dominikánská náměstí and
Kulturpark.
Košice cuisine is a mixture of traditional specialties of Slovak and Hungarian gastronomy. Definitely Košice specialties are cod in mayonnaise and the famous Košice ice cream, Košice honey, cream trees and wreaths from the local confectionery chain Aida, which has three confectionery shops around the city. Košické zlato is the official cocktail of the city, which was created at a bartending show in 2010. The secret recipe drink also has a warm version for the winter season.
Strolls through the city of Košice - regular walking tours of the
city of Košice - organized every first weekend of the month, always with
a different theme and route.
Days of the city of Košice - May -
weekly celebrations of the city on the occasion of the awarding of the
city coat of arms.
Košice Grand Prix - May - international bridge
festival.
Days of French culture – March/April.
Košice Music
Spring – May – classical music festival in the House of Arts.
Night
of Museums - May - pan-European event under the auspices of the Council
of Europe.
Use the City festival – May – street art festival.
Cassovia Retro - May - Festival of vintage cars
Imaginations -
May/June - multi-genre outdoor site-specific performance incorporating
historical realities in an urban environment.
Art Film Fest Košice –
June – international film festival (formerly Trenčianske Teplice,
Trenčín 1993 – 2015).
Convergences - June - international chamber
music festival.
Bicycle race Košice - Tatras - Košice - June - a
sports event with a long history.
Cassovia folkfest - June - folklore
festival with performances by folk ensembles.
International Balloon
Fiesta - June - Balloon flights over the city.
Golden Beggar - June -
the first and oldest international festival of local television.
Haliganda - June - festival of artistic creation for children and
families.
Košice Gourmet Fest – June – festival of exceptional
tastes.
Mazaltov! – June – festival of Jewish culture, has been on
the Košice cultural scene since 2012.
Summer Shakespearean
festivities - June - in Prague and Bratislava and at Košice's Lower
Gate.
Summer in the Park – August – a city-type festival in the field
of music, theater and film in the City Park.
Feman - European
festival of culture of nations and nationalities - September.
Ivan
Sokol International Organ Festival – September – organ festival in the
Dome and the House of Arts.
Festival of Theaters of Central Europe –
September.
Košice Wine Festival – September – wine tasting in Dolna
brána and near Miklušová prison combined with a market of traditional
crafts.
Biela noc/Nuit Blanche - October - the most watched and mass
art project in Košice, offering music and light installations in an
urban environment, an established festival in selected world cities, in
Košice since 2010.
International Peace Marathon - October - the
oldest European marathon and the second oldest in the world.
Days of
Czech culture – October.
Days of Spanish Culture - October.
Diversity Festival / Soup Festival – October.
International jazz
festival - October - the second largest in Slovakia after Bratislava.
Days of new dance - October - festival of contemporary dance (biennial).
Festival of contemporary art Ars nova Cassoviae - October - festival of
contemporary serious music.
Matrioshka Festival – a multi-genre
cultural festival reflecting the totalitarian regime in Czechoslovakia
in the period 1948-1989.
Art Dance – November – international
festival of contemporary stage dance.
Festival of sacred art –
November/December – celebrations of the patron saint of the city, Saint
Elizabeth, a unique festival in Slovakia with a presentation of European
sacred art in the fields of music, singing, fine arts and words.
ICSM
New Music Days – December – international contemporary music festival
organized by the Slovak section of the International Society for
Contemporary Music (ISCM).
Košice Christmas, New Year's Eve Košice –
Christmas markets, angel cabbage, mayor's punch, concerts, fireworks.
Free Summer Košice International festival of electronic and dance music.
Illegal Night Košice – a popular gathering of motorists, one of the
biggest gatherings in Slovakia.
JBL Jump Fest – one of the largest
European athletic events, held in city centers.
Locomotive parade –
annual parade of historic locomotives at the railway depot
The city is located in the eastern part of Slovakia in the Košice
region, near the borders with Hungary (20 km), Ukraine (80 km) and
Poland (90 km) at the crossroads of historical trade routes. It is about
400 km from the capital Bratislava.
The city stretches on both
banks of the Hornád River in the geographical connection between the
northern extremity of the East Pannonian Basin - the Košice Basin and
the Carpathian Mountains of the Slovak Ore Mountains, which borders the
city in the northwest with the Čierna Hora massif and the Volovské
vrchy. It is surrounded from the east by the wall of the Slanské vrchy
of volcanic origin.
The city center is 208 meters above sea
level, the highest point of the city is Hradová Hill - 466.1 m above sea
level. m., which belongs to the Čierna hora massif.
The tectonic structure of the surroundings of Košice is dominated by the Hornád fault, which vertically limits the Gemericum, Veporicum and the Inner Carpathian Paleogene from the East Pannonian Basin. Along the fault, there was strong volcanic activity in the Slanské vrchy in the Miocene. The southern and southeastern parts of the city stand on calcareous clays of the Kochanov formation of Sarmatian age (Miocene) and younger river sands, gravels and clays of the Quaternary. The western and northern parts of the city lie on older Veporica and Gemerika rocks. In the area of Řahanoviece, these are granodiorites to tonalities of the Bujanova complex and overlying metamorphosed sandstones and conglomerates, as well as Mesozoic limestones belonging to the porphyry. In the western part, metamorphosed Gemerika rocks dominate, mainly phyllites of the Čermeľ group, conglomerates and breccias of the Krompaš group, and amphibolites and metabasites of the Krakovec group. Of the mineral wealth, the most important deposits of magnesite in the northwestern part of the city in the Bankov massif were mined and processed in the Košice magnesite mine until 1997. In the area of Jahodna there are still unmined balance reserves of uranium ore with a significant admixture of molybdenum.
The climate of Košice is continental, mild with average temperatures
of -3 °C in January and 19 °C in July. The average annual temperature is
around 8.4-8.7 °C. The average annual rainfall is about 600-650 mm.
Absolute maximum: 38.5 °C (July 20, 2007).
Absolute minimum:
-30.5 °C (February 16, 1940).
The city belongs to the Hornád – Slaná – Tisa river
basin. The Hornád River flows through the eastern part of the city in a
north-south direction. The right-hand tributaries of Hornád are
Myslavský stream in the east-west direction and Čermeľ stream in the
northwest direction. The river Ida flows from north to south through the
Šaca district in the western part of the city. South of Košice, the
left-hand tributaries of Torys and Olšava flow into Hornád. Flood
protection for the city is ensured by the Ružín I and Ružín II dams on
Hornád.
Water bodies and lakes
The water conditions of the
city were not favorable for the creation of natural water bodies. There
are artificial water reservoirs on the Hornád and Ida rivers, several
dredging sites, or gravel pits and ponds. Blind shoulders are preserved
along Hornád in the southern part of the city.
water area Lake
Selig Lake
Čanianske jazerá - gravel pits
Bukovec water reservoir
– drinking water reservoir
water reservoir Poľov – storage water for
the U. S. Steel Košice ironworks
water reservoir Pod Bukovcom – water
storage for U. S. Steel Košice ironworks
Act of the National Council of the Slovak Republic of October 1, 1990
on the city of Košice 401/1990 Coll. gave Košice the status of a city
administered by the municipality, the city council and the city mayor.
Amendment of Act from 2006 222/2006 Coll. for example, it expanded the
powers of local councils of city districts.
The city council is
the body of the city's self-government and decides on the most important
issues of a city-wide nature. It has 41 deputies, elected directly
according to the proportional principle of the size of individual city
districts for a period of four years.
The mayor is the executive
and representative body of the city, elected directly for a 4-year term
in a one-round election by a system of relative majority. He leads the
meetings of the city council and the city council and signs their
resolutions. He has two deputies.
The city council is the
executive and advisory body of the mayor, it consists of 15 members
elected by the city council from among its ranks, as well as all the
mayors of individual city districts and the city mayor.
The
municipality is a professional and administrative unit, divided into
departments and departments, headed by a director.
The city of
Košice is further divided into 22 self-governing districts, which are
administered by their own local councils headed by mayors.
The coat of arms of Košice is the oldest documented city coat of arms
in Europe. The silver great seal of the city from 1504 is one of the
most beautiful Hungarian Renaissance seals. Other symbols are the city
flag, insignia and the mayor's standard. On April 11, 2019, the city
deputies approved Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, who is also the patron of
the famous Košice Cathedral, as the patron saint of the city.
Regional self-government and state administration
With the
decentralization of public administration since 2002, most of the
competences of regions and districts passed to the self-governing
region. Košice is the seat of the Košice self-governing region. At the
level of state administration, the territory of the city is administered
by the Košice District Office, which has jurisdiction over the entire
Košice region.
1990 – 1993: Ján Kopnický
1993-1994: Rudolf Bauer
1994 – 1999:
Rudolf Schuster
1999 – 2006: Zdenko Trebula
2006 – 2010: František
Knapík
2010 – 2018: Richard Raši
2018 – 2026: Jaroslav Polaček
In the centuries that followed, Kosice was one of the most important
and largest cities in the Kingdom of Hungary. Due to its location on a
trade route to Poland and various privileges, trade flourished and its
importance grew. The first guild rules date back to 1307. In the early
14th century, the city was involved in several disputes with the Aba
family, which after the coronation of Charles I should be understood in
the context of the fight against petty kingdoms. After the royal victory
against the Aba in the Battle of Rozhanovce in 1312, in which the
citizens of Košice intervened to help the king, several rights were
granted to the city as a reward. In 1347 Košice became the second royal
free city in the Kingdom of Hungary after the capital Buda. In 1369 the
city received its coat of arms from King Ludwig the Great. This was the
first princely award of a coat of arms to a legal entity in Europe.
Until then, this privilege was only available to natural persons. The
city's privileges included the stacking right, various exemptions from
tolls and five annual fairs (until the end of the Middle Ages). Trade
had a particularly strong impact on the medieval city and there were
close ties, especially with the Polish city of Kraków. The development
of the city reached its peak in the 14th and 15th centuries. In the 15th
century, the city played an important role in the Pentapolitana - a
league of cities in what is now eastern Slovakia - Košice, Prešov,
Bardejov, Sabinov and Levoča. In the middle of the 15th century it came
under the rule of Jan Giskra (Jan Jiskra). However, it remained one of
the most important and largest centers in the 16th and 17th centuries.
In the 16th century the town was affected by the wars between
Ferdinand I and Johann Zápolya. From 1563 to 1686 the city was the seat
of the "Captainate of Upper Hungary" and from 1567 to 1848 the seat of
the Zipser Chamber, a branch of the highest financial authority in
Vienna for Upper Hungary. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the city was
drawn into battles between the Catholic Habsburgs and the
Protestant-leaning Hungarian Estates. Symptomatic of this epoch are the
dispute over the Elisabeth Cathedral and the takeover of the then
Protestant church by the Catholics in 1604, as well as the execution of
the three Catholic martyrs of Košice in 1619. Košice changed its
affiliation several times, from the Habsburg-controlled "Royal Hungary".
to the Principality of Transylvania, more precisely to the Partium
(namely in the years 1604-1606, 1619-1629 and 1644-1648) and was the
residence of Francis II Rákóczi (Hungarian Rákóczi Ferenc, Slovak
František Rákoci). It was also here that the anti-Habsburg uprisings
flared up most violently. In 1670 the Habsburgs had a fortress built. In
the 1670s, Košice was besieged by kurucs several times. In 1682 the town
was conquered by Imre Thököly and became part of the short-lived Upper
Hungarian Principality, which lasted until 1685. The fortress was
destroyed in 1713. In the 17th century, Košice was the de facto capital
of Upper Hungary, which was then the name for today's eastern Slovakia
and parts of today's north-eastern Hungary - and thus for the northern
half of what was then Hungary. In 1657, as part of the
Counter-Reformation, Jesuits founded the University of Kosice
(Universitas Cassoviensis) with theological, philosophical and
philological faculties and confirmed it in 1660 with a Golden Bull from
Leopold I and placed it on an equal footing with universities in the HRR
area. With the later royal and law academies, the school existed until
1921.
At the beginning of the 18th century, when the Ottomans
were defeated and the rebellions were ended by the Peace of Satu Mare
(1711), the city's importance waned as new trade routes passed by the
city. The rich medieval city subsequently developed into an agricultural
provincial town. The city walls were mostly demolished in the 18th
century. In 1802 a diocese was founded. The first factories were built
in the 1840s. The area around the city was the scene of several battles
during the revolutions of 1848/49. The Hungarian army captured the city
on February 15, 1849, but was repulsed by Russian intervention troops on
June 24, 1849. The first railway line was built from Miskolc in 1860,
followed by lines to Chop, Prešov and Žilina in the 1870s. In
particular, after the Compromise of 1867, cultural life was supported,
for example in 1872 with the founding of the Upper Hungarian Museum
(today the East Slovakian Museum) or in 1899 with the opening of the
National Theater (today the Košice State Theatre). In 1891 the first
section of the (initially horse) tram was opened, making Košice the
first city in what is now Slovakia to have a public transport network.
Until the end of the Kingdom of Hungary, the city was the seat of
Abaúj-Torna County (until 1882 Abaúj County) and from 1876 it also had
the status of a city district and was therefore legally separate from
the county.
The city was not directly affected by the war events of the First
World War, only in the winter of 1914/15 the winter battle in the
Carpathians took place northeast of the city on the main Carpathian
ridge. After the collapse of Austria-Hungary, the Hungarian-backed East
Slovak Republic was proclaimed in Košice on December 11, 1918, before
the city was captured by the Czechoslovak legions on December 29, 1918.
In the summer of 1919, Košice was briefly the seat of the Slovak Soviet
Republic, a Hungarian puppet state. Czechoslovak rule was confirmed by
the Treaty of Trianon. In Czechoslovakia, the city became the center of
eastern Slovakia and from 1923 the only other Slovak city with a
magistrate (a statutory city, so to speak) alongside Bratislava. In
1935, during excavations in the former Spiš Chamber building, 2920 gold
coins, three medals and a gold chain were found, and the find was named
the Košice Gold Treasure. After the First Vienna Arbitration, Košice
belonged to Hungary from 1938 to 1945.
When the Jews from Hungary
were exterminated, the station was a border station. Important
information about the number of victims of the Holocaust in Hungary
comes from here. The first two transports from Hungary passed through
here at the end of April 1944 on their way to Auschwitz. After a
two-week break, the trains came regularly, two to six a day. As a
result, posterity has a record of the trains that passed the border
station, and therefore one knows how many deported Jews were on each
train. So e.g. For example, on May 16, around 17,000 people were
deported to Auschwitz in five transports; on May 25, there were almost
16,000 people in five transports.
During the Hungarian rule in
World War II, the city was bombed on June 26, 1941 by a force unknown to
this day. The Hungarian government then declared war on the Soviet
Union. In 1945 the city was conquered by the Red Army and functioned as
the provisional capital of Czechoslovakia until Prague was liberated.
Here the government passed the Košice program on April 5, 1945.
After the communist coup in February 1948, massive industrialization
of the city began, including the East Slovak Iron Works (today U. S.
Steel Košice), the East Slovak Machine Building Works (Východoslovenské
strojárne) and a branch of the Slovak Magnesite Works (now closed). Due
to the mass construction of apartment blocks, the city grew rapidly and
was the fifth largest in Czechoslovakia. As part of the urban
development, the urban area was enlarged twice: for the first time in
1968 with the incorporation of Barca, Košická Nová Ves, Myslava, Poľov,
Šaca, Ťahanovce and Vyšné Opátske, and for the second time in 1976 with
the incorporation of Kavečany, Krásna nad Hornádom, Lorinčík and
Šebastovce . Since 1968 the town again had the status of a district,
separated from the surrounding area (Okres Košice-okolie, then
Košice-vidiek). From 1960 to 1990 Košice was the seat of one of the
three Slovak regional associations, the Východoslovenský kraj.
After the division of Czechoslovakia in 1993, Košice became part of the
newly created Slovakia and its second largest city as well as the seat
of the Constitutional Court. The extensive expansion of prefabricated
buildings was completed in the 1990s.
In 2017, Košice was awarded
the honorary title of "European City of Reformation" by the Community of
Evangelical Churches in Europe.
The city name comes from the personal name Koša, the original form of
the name Košici refers to the landowner Koša and means something like
"people from Koša" or "descendants of Koša". The patronymic suffix -ice
appears for the first time in the late 14th century (1383 Cosszicze).
Another possibility derives the name from the word koša (roughly "forest
clearing" or rather "clearing" like Roth or Reuth, related to the verb
kosiť "mow").
The originally Slavic place name was rendered in
Hungarian as Kassa by phonetic adaptation (o → a). The German name,
first mentioned in 1307 in the form Casscha, was derived from the
Hungarian name and adapted to the name form Kaschau in several steps
(1394 Cassow, 1411 Cassaw). With the advent of humanism and the
Renaissance, the Latinized form Cassovia and the adjective Cassoviensis
increasingly appear. Turkish Kaşa has survived from the time of the
Turkish wars. The Hungarian surname Kassai refers to the name of the
town.
According to the 2018 population census, 238,757 people lived in
Košice. The ethnic composition of the city is as follows: Slovaks –
75.7%, Hungarians – 2.8%, Roma – 1.98%, Ruthenians – 0.67%, Czechs –
0.72%, Ukrainians – 0.46%, Germans – 0.29%, Poles – 0.17%, Russians –
0.09%. Up to 16.68% of Košice residents did not indicate any
nationality. 45% of the faithful applied to the Roman Catholic Church,
6.12% to the Greek Catholic Church, 2.33% to the Evangelical Church of
the Augsburg Confession, 2% to Calvinism, and 1.24% to the Orthodox
Church. 16.6% of the population have no religion.
In 2008, Košice
had 233,659 inhabitants, which was a decrease of 578 compared to 2007.
The most children in proportion to the population were born in the Luník
IX district (34.69 per 1,000 inhabitants). The city recorded a positive
natural population increase (10.64 children were born per 1,000
inhabitants), but population migration led to its decline. In 2008,
1,583 people immigrated to the city, but as many as 2,628 moved away, of
which 73 went abroad. 2,555 people from Košice changed their place of
residence within Slovakia, mainly moving to the western parts of
Slovakia.
In 2011, a natural population decline was recorded in
the Košice IV district. The highest relative live birth rate was shown
by district Košice III (14.46), the lowest by district Košice I (9.82
children per 1,000 inhabitants). In Košice, 546 inhabitants decreased
due to migration, but after taking into account the natural increase in
the population of Košice (718 people) since the beginning of 2011, a
total of 172 permanent residents have increased in Košice, to a total of
240,688 inhabitants at the end of the year. The largest urban districts
according to the population are: West (40,599), Dargovské hrdinov
(27,477), Nad jazerom (25,702), Sídlisko KVP (25,335), Juh (23,477),
Sídlisko Ťahanovce (23,250), Staré Mesto (20,592), Sever (20,368) and
the smallest urban districts Lorinčík (441), Šebastovce (663) and
Džungľa (671).
In 2018, 2,280 children were born in Košice (9.54
children per 1,000 inhabitants) and 2,096 people died, which means a
natural population increase of 181 people. 2,289 people immigrated to
the city, but 2,808 moved out, which characterizes the migration balance
in the amount of -519 people. Furthermore, in the districts of Košice I.
and III. recorded a decrease in the population, but in the districts of
Košice II. and IV. again an increase. The highest live birth rate was
recorded in the district of Košice II. (11.11 ‰), the lowest district of
Košice IV. (8.19 ‰). The largest urban districts according to the
population are: West (39,978), Dargovské hrdinov (26,169), Nad jazerom
(24,803), Sídlisko KVP (23,864), Juh (23,030), Sídlisko Ťahanovce
(22,340), Staré Mesto (20,751), Sever (20,281) and the smallest urban
districts of Džungľa (697), Lorinčík (718) and Šebastovce (732).
The ethnic composition of the city's population underwent historical
changes and changed according to political circumstances, when it
depended on how many citizens claimed to be Slovak and how many to
Hungarian nationality. With a population of 28,884 in 1891, only half
(49.9%) of Košice declared Hungarian as their mother tongue, 33.6% -
Slovak and 13.5% - German. In 1910, of the population of 44,211, 75.4%
declared themselves as Hungarians, 14.8% as Slovaks, 7.2% as Germans and
1.8% as Poles. After 1918 in the first Czecho-Slovak Republic, the
national structure changed significantly in favor of the Slovak
nationality. There were also more Czechs who worked in state
institutions. Before World War II, Košice also had an active Jewish
community. In the years 1944-1945, around 10,000 Jews were deported to
Auschwitz by the Arrow Cross party. After 1989, there was a partial
renaissance of Jewish life in Košice. With 280 members, the local Jewish
community is the second largest in Slovakia. Since 2012, the Jewish
culture festival Mazal Tov! has been organized in Košice.
Due to
its varied history and many changes in the national and religious life
of the city, Košice is known as the city of tolerance. The club of
national minorities was symbolically established in the memorial house
of the native of Košice, the Hungarian writer Sándor Márai. The club
covers the cultural activities of the Hungarian, Czech, Carpathian
German, Bulgarian, Roma, Polish, Ruthenian and Jewish minorities. Since
2000, FEMAN - European Festival of the Culture of Nations and
Nationalities has been organized every September. The several-year
tradition of a common ecumenical passion procession through the streets
of the city unites nine Christian churches and the Jewish religious
community with observer status. The Hungarian Consulate General was
established for the needs of the Hungarian minority. The popular
Hungarian theater Thália significantly enriches the theater scene in
Košice.
The city is also internationally known as the center of
the Roma minority, which is concentrated in the Luník IX district. The
Office of the Plenipotentiary of the Government of the Slovak Republic
for Roma communities has a regional office here. Romathan Roma Theater
is the only one of its kind in Slovakia. Košice is home to the Roma
Media Center, the Good Roma Fairy Kesaj Cultural and Educational
Foundation, and a private elementary school and gymnasium focusing on
the teaching of the Roma language and Roma realities.
The prestigious title of European Capital of Culture has been awarded
by the European Commission and the European Parliament since 1985 with
the aim of supporting the sustainable cultural development of the given
city with the involvement of all cultural entities and increasing the
interest of the residents of the selected European city in what is
happening there. In 2008, Košice won the Interface 2013 project over the
other Slovak candidate cities of Nitro, Martin and Prešov, becoming the
first Slovak city with this title. The Interface 2013 project seeks to
transform Košice as a strong industrial center into a post-industrial
city with creative potential, university facilities and a new cultural
infrastructure. The creators brought to Košice the concept of the
creative economy - the connection of the economy and industry with art -
which created space for the development of areas of the creative
industry (design, media, architecture, music production, film,
information technology, computer games) and creative tourism. The
artistic and cultural program for the year 2013 itself was based on the
concept of sustainable activities with a long-term effect on the
cultural life of the city and region.
Main investment projects of
the European Capital of Culture Košice 2013:
Kasárne Kulturpark –
reconstruction of the barracks on Kukučínová street into a new creative,
educational and recreational district of Košice;
SPOTs –
reconstruction of selected housing exchange stations into cultural
community centers;
Kunsthalle/Art Hall - reconstruction of an unused
old indoor swimming pool into a multifunctional cultural center with an
international program;
City park, Komenského and Moyzesov parks –
revitalization of public space;
Košice Castle, Amphitheater, Krásná
mansion, St. Elizabeth's Cathedral, Crafts Alley - reconstruction.
Since 1962, the studio of state public television (today STV) has
been broadcasting from Košice, which mainly contributes regional news.
The Košice television station TV Naša started broadcasting in 1996 and
was one of the first local television stations in Slovakia. In 2015, it
was included in the portfolio of the weekly magazine KOŠICE:DNES. The
tradition of the international festival of local television, the Golden
Beggar, dates back to 1995.
Radio broadcasting in Košice was
started in 1927. In addition to Slovak Radio, the city is home to
several local commercial radio stations covering the city or the whole
of Eastern Slovakia. The most important of them is Rádio KISS and Rádio
Košice – the most listened to regional radio in Slovakia.
Korzár
is the regional daily for the city of Košice. The evening newspaper
Košický večer was founded in 1968 and was published daily until 2004.
The tradition of this legendary Košice daily was preserved and until
2014 it was published once a week, on Fridays, as part of the Korzár
group. In September 2014, a new city evening newspaper (today a weekly)
called KOŠICE:DNES began to be published. In a short time, it became the
largest and most popular regional media house in Slovakia. Listy Košice
was a cultural and social magazine mapping the present and the history
of Košice and the surrounding area. They were published once every two
months. Other nationwide periodicals have their separate editorial
offices in Košice.
The online media portal Košicak was launched
in 2015, which is an abbreviation for Košice up-to-date. This portal
mapped current affairs in the region and also brought interesting things
from history, it was updated daily until 2018. The second newer local
information provider in Košice is the media portal košiceonline.sk,
which was created in 2017.
Košice, the second largest city in Slovakia, is the seat of an
important constitutional institution – the Constitutional Court of the
Slovak Republic, as well as the national office of the National Labor
Inspectorate. Detached workplaces were established here by the Office of
the President of the Slovak Republic, the Office of the President of the
Slovak Republic and the Office of the Plenipotentiary of the Government
of the Slovak Republic for Roma Communities.
As a regional city,
it is the seat of the Office of the Košice Self-Governing Region and the
District Office of the Košice Region.
A number of organizations
serve the national minorities here. The local organization Čemadoku was
established for the needs of the Hungarian minority. The National
Minorities Club unites all minorities living in the city.
Košice, as the seat of four universities and important industrial
enterprises, concentrates many specialized scientific and research
workplaces, mainly of a technical focus, but also in the field of
veterinary medicine and humanities.
Scientific institutes of the
Slovak Academy of Sciences:
Institute of Experimental Physics
Institute of Materials Research
Institute of Geotechnics
Institute
of Neurobiology (SAV Medical Center)
Institute of Parasitology
Institute of Livestock Physiology (SAV Center for Biosciences)
Center
of Biomedical Microbiology and Immunology (Institute of Neuroimmunology
SAV)
Institute of Social Sciences (Centre of Social and Psychological
Sciences SAS)
Institute of Archeology - workplace Košice
Institute
of Mathematics - detached workplace
Other research facilities
include:
BOOS - Biological substances - developments in the field of
organic chemistry and pharmaceuticals
Edis – Research and development
cooperative for electronic and digital systems
Research Institute of
Veterinary Medicine
Research Institute of Construction Informatics
ZŤS – Research and Development Institute
Košice has two
planetariums. The general and specialist public is served by the
planetarium in the main building of the Slovak Technical Museum. The
municipal educational institution for children and youth, the DOMINO
leisure center has another planetarium, which is also connected to the
observatory.
Košice has a long tradition as a center of university education. The
University of Košice, founded in 1657, symbolized the superiority of
Catholic Europe in expelling the Turks from Hungary. Košice is currently
the second most important center of Slovak higher education. The
University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Košice, founded in
1949, is the only one of its kind in Slovakia. The beginnings of the
Technical University date back to 1937, but the events of the war caused
it to be moved to Bratislava. Re-founded in 1952, today with nine
faculties and almost 10,000 students, it is the most visited among
Košice universities. Alongside it, there is also interest-based
education for the third age. In 2019, the University of Pavel Jozef
Šafárik in Košice had a total of more than 7,000 students at the
faculties of public administration, philosophy, medicine, natural
sciences and law.
Several university faculties located in other
Slovak cities are also located in the city. The University of Economics
in Bratislava located its Faculty of Business and Economics here in
1969, and the Catholic University in Ružomberok its Faculty of Theology
in 2003. The University of Health and Social Work St. Alžbety in
Bratislava has a detached workplace of bl. Z.G. Mallu. Since 2006, the
University of Safety Management has also been located in the city.
In Košice, secondary education is primarily focused on four-year and
eight-year gymnasiums, of which there were 20 in the city in 2021. Among
them are two sports gymnasiums, one evangelical, three church, three
private and one with Hungarian as the language of instruction. Six of
them have the Košice self-governing region as their constituent
authority.
Secondary industrial schools are represented by
metallurgical, transport, building and surveying, electrical engineering
and mechanical engineering. There are three secondary health schools,
two business academies, two conservatories and a hotel academy in the
city. There are also a number of secondary vocational schools, with a
broad focus, including one with Hungarian as the language of instruction
and 6 private ones. A total of 22 in 2021. Most of them are within the
scope of establishment of the Košice self-governing region.
Primary education in Košice in 2021 is represented by up to 55 primary schools. Of these, 12 are private, 3 artistic and 3 church. All state schools are under the authority of the city of Košice. The city of Košice establishes a total of 100 schools (primary, kindergarten, language, ZUŠ, CVČ), which makes it the largest school founder in Slovakia.
Louis Pasteur University Hospital Košice was founded in 1924 and is
the second largest hospital in Slovakia. It has 1,616 beds and 3,700
employees in two facilities, the Old Hospital in the South district and
the New Hospital (1973-1981) in the West district.
The Children's
Faculty Hospital Košice with 240 beds was founded in 1966.
The
roots of the specialized bedless Aviation Military Hospital date back to
1858. It is the only one of its kind in Slovakia and also serves as a
teaching base of the Slovak Medical University Bratislava in the field
of aviation medicine.
The railway hospital with the Košice
polyclinic has been in operation since 1955.
The Košice-Šaca
Hospital was established in 1959 as a factory health institute at the
Východoslovenské železiarňe. Today, with 380 beds, it is the only large
private hospital in Slovakia.
The city is home to the East Slovak
Oncology Institute Košice, the East Slovak Institute of Heart and
Vascular Diseases Košice and the Highly Specialized Geriatric Institute
St. Lukáš Košice.
In the largest urban areas, there are separate
polyclinics, of which there are eleven in total (two of which are
private).
The largest emergency medical service provider in
Slovakia is also headquartered here - Falck (Falck Záchranná, a.s.)
Eastern Slovakia belongs to the poorer regions of the European Union,
but the economic indicators for the city of Košice improved
significantly in the 1st and 2nd decades of the 21st century and are
competitive with the indicators of Western Slovakian cities. In 2016,
the gross domestic product of the East Slovak region was 69% of the
Slovak average. The Košice region alone reached 78% of the average gross
domestic product of Slovakia.
According to the index of
competitiveness of the districts of Slovakia (the best conditions for
the development of business activities), the districts of Košice were
ranked as follows: Košice II. on 11th place, Košice I. on 14th, Košice
IV. on the 20th and Košice III. in 31st place.
As of December 31,
2008, unemployment in the Košice region was 13.50%, in the
Košice-surrounding district 17.37%, and the city itself showed 7.19%
unemployment. In 2010, the unemployment rate in the city of Košice
reached 9.57%, but in 2018 it was only 4%.
As of January 31,
2019, unemployment in the Košice region reached 8.38%, in the
Košice-surrounding district 9.97%, and the city itself showed only 3.84%
unemployment after averaging the individual districts of Košice. In
2018, the number of long-term registered job seekers fell to 2,019
people.
In 2019, the average number of employed persons in Košice
was 97,409. Of these, 22,118 persons (22.7%) worked in the second sector
(industry and construction) and in the third sector (excluding
statistical categories of information and communication, professional
scientific and technical activities, administrative and support
services) employed 56,366 people (57.9%). Then, 17,144 people (17.6%)
worked in the fourth sector in the categories of information and
communication, professional scientific and technical activities,
administrative and support services.
The average monthly salary
in the Košice Region in 2000 was €369, in 2007 it was €668.7, and in
2018 it was €982.
The average monthly wage in the city of Košice
was €1,303 in 2019.
Košice is the most important industrial center of eastern Slovakia
with heavy metallurgical, electric power, engineering and construction
industries.
During the period of state socialism (1948 – 1989),
several established plants of the metalworking, food and engineering
industries were established in the city, which did not survive the
neoliberal economic transformation after 1989. These included the
Slovenské magnesitevé závody - the Košice-Ťahanovce plant, which was
abolished in 1997 and East Slovak machine shops with export production
of machines and trucks to the countries of the Council of Mutual
Economic Assistance. This company was definitively closed in 2013.
U.S. Steel Košice
The Východoslovenská železiarne metallurgical
plant, founded in 1959, was purchased in 2000 by the American concern
United States Steel Corporation (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) and currently
operates under the name U.S. Steel Košice, s.r.o. With a production
capacity of 4.5 tons of steel per year, U.S. Steel Košice is the largest
producer of flat rolled products in Central Europe. The company's
production is mainly focused on products with a higher added value for
the packaging, electrotechnical, consumer, construction and automotive
industries, such as hot-rolled steel, cold-rolled steel, electrical
steel, hot-dip galvanized steel, steel with organic coatings, tinned
steel or spiral welded pipes. In 2008, the company employed 12,227
workers, which ranked it among the largest employers in Slovakia and in
first place among the largest private (non-state) employers in Slovakia.
In 2017, the company with 12,028 employees ranked second among the
largest private employers in Slovakia.
Heating plant Košice
Since 1967, the TEKO Košice thermal power plant has been operating in
the Juh district, which is one of the largest producers and distributors
of heat in the form of hot water and steam in the centralized heat
supply system in Slovakia. The company also produces electricity and
provides support services and regulating electricity for the needs of
the Slovak Republic's electricity system.
Mowing Košice
The
company KOSIT, a.s. since 2001, it has been operating in the field of
municipal waste collection and processing, while it owns one waste
energy utilization facility, i.e. j. waste incinerator in the territory
of the Barca district near the village of Kokšov-Bakša. The company
evaluates 195,000 tons of waste per year, produces 48,000 MWh of
electricity for 20,000 households and provides heating for 2,400
households during the winter period.
In the period of socialist industrialization in 1955, the
construction company Inžinierske stavby was established in Košice,
focused on the construction of roads, bridges, water reservoirs, railway
and tram lines in eastern Slovakia. In 2004, the company became a member
of the French construction concern COLAS and is currently, together with
other Slovak divisions, one of the leaders in the construction and
maintenance of transport infrastructure in the country.
Immopark
industrial park
The Immopark industrial and logistics park was
established near the international airport of Košice in the territory of
the Barca district. The first investors in its 60-hectare territory are
global companies producing automotive parts: U-Shin Slovakia (access
systems for cars and development center), Faurecia Slovakia (interiors
and accessories for cars), Howe (leather seats) and Windsor Maschine
Group (backrests). . In 2018, the Japanese company Minebea Mitsubi
opened its plant here for 2,000 employees, which it will employ until
2022. The company produces electronic and mechanical components for the
automotive industry. In addition, a number of logistics and transport
companies are located here.
Kechnec Industrial Park
The most
important and largest industrial park in the Košice region is located
near the village of Kechnec. The Kechnec industrial park with an area of
332 ha is 18 km from Košice and has around 14 companies operating there:
Getrag Ford (production of transmissions), Kuenz-SK (production of steel
structures), Magneti Marelli Slovakia (production of components for the
automotive industry), Crown Bevcan Slovakia (production of packaging
materials), Schelling Slovakia (production of steel structures), Gefko
Slovakia (logistics services), Swep Slovakia (production of heat
exchangers), Ave SK (waste recycling), Evans Slovakia (production of
plastic packaging), Molex Slovakia (production electrical components for
the automotive industry).
Veľká Ida Industrial Park
The Veľká
Ida industrial park with an area of 30 ha is 10 km from Košice and four
companies operate there. The enterprises of Energyco and Steelcon
Slovakia deal with engineering production. The object of production of
Oerlikon Balzers is the plasma treatment of parts, and the company IEE
Sensing Slovakia does business in the field of sensors.
Valaliky
industrial park
By building a new strategic industrial park south of
Košice from 2021, the Slovak government aimed to reduce regional
differences. The park with an area of 910 ha is to be ranked among the
largest in Slovakia. In 2022, the Swedish passenger car manufacturer
Volvo has announced that it will build its new 1.2 billion euro European
plant for the production of electric cars in the Valaliky industrial
park. The fifth car manufacturer in Slovakia with 3,300 employees is
scheduled to start operations in 2026.
Košice IT Valley
After a period of intensive construction of the
heavy metallurgical and engineering industry during the period of state
socialism in the second half of the 20th century, Košice is profiled in
the 21st century primarily as a center of top information and
telecommunications technologies and creative industry. Global companies
such as Deutsche Telekom IT Solutions Slovakia (Germany), AfB (Germany),
FPT Slovakia (Vietnam), Accenture Slovakia, GlobalLogic Slovakia,
Deloitte, Ness Košice, Siemens PSE, VSE IT služby, AT&T, ESET, IBM, FPT
Software, Cisco Systems Slovakia, Embraco, Microsoft Slovakia,
Freudenberg IT as well as mobile operators Orange, Slovak Telekom and
O2.
In 2007, the Košice IT sector, under the auspices of the
Košice self-governing region, joined the innovative Košice IT Valley
cluster with the aim of supporting mutual cooperation in the field of
joint scientific and research projects and improving the quality of IT
education programs at Košice universities. Since its creation in 2007,
the cluster has grown from ten founding members to 55 entities. In 2009,
the IT sector employed around 3,000, and in 2015, over 7,000 qualified
professionals. Of these, the most important company, Deutsche Telekom,
employed around 3,850 workers in 2016, making it the second largest
employer in Košice. The Košice operation represents the second largest
center of shared services in Slovakia and at the same time belongs to
the top fifteen largest employers in Slovakia.
In 2020, the state
joint-stock company Slovensko IT was established in Košice, to which the
state authorities entrusted the construction of cheaper, more modern and
more flexible state information systems.
The Cassos of the Medi
Valley
Cassovia Medi Valley is a cluster of health, educational,
scientific and administrative entities focused on coordinating
research-scientific, development and innovation activities in the field
of biomedicine, pharmacy and cosmetics. The founding members of the
cluster are the company MM Medical, focused on the production and
development of dermatological lasers, and Juhapharm, a company operating
in the field of aesthetic medicine. The main development partners of the
private sector are the Technical University in Košice, the University of
Pavel Jozef Šafárik in Košice and the University of Veterinary Medicine
and Pharmacy in Košice.
Innovation center of the Košice region
In the summer of 2021, a coordinating body for the development of
innovations and new technologies called the Innovation Center of the
Košice Region will be established in Košice, which aims to develop a new
high-tech industry in the region. The innovation center is established
in the area of Košice's Tabačka on Strojárenská street by five partners,
among which are the Košice self-governing region, the city of Košice,
the Technical University of Košice, the University of Pavel Jozef
Šafárik in Košice and the University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy
in Košice. As part of the upcoming Košice cluster of new industry, the
partners of the innovation center in cooperation with the Slovak Academy
of Sciences, Louis Pasteur University Hospital and Cassovia Discovery
Park will create conditions for biomedical research and development of
new materials in the field of environment and green energy.
Interport transshipment of goods
In 1970, in the Košice-Šaca district
near the Košice International Airport, next to the metallurgical plant
with today's name U.S. Steel Košice, a goods transshipment station with
a connection to railway line no. 160 Košice - Zvolen and a broad-gauge
line to Uzhhorod with a rail gauge of 1520 mm. Before 1989, cars of the
Lada, Moskvich and Volga type were imported to Czechoslovakia through
the transshipment point as part of the trade exchange between the
countries of the Council of Mutual Economic Assistance.
Currently, at the transshipment point, Interport Service provides
logistics services for the export and import of products from Russia,
Ukraine and Belarus to multinational companies such as U.S. Steel
Košice, Volkswagen, OFZ, Budamar, SMZ Jelšava, Rail Cargo Operator, AS
Trade, Gefco, C&T, Cosmotrade, Investex groups and Zberko. The
transshipment area includes a container terminal, a transit center and a
public customs warehouse.
Other enterprises of the third and
fourth sectors
Other important companies located in Košice are the
Východoslovenská vodárenská spoločnost, which supplies drinking water to
almost one million inhabitants of Slovakia, and the Východoslovenská
energetika, which provides complex services connected with the purchase
of electricity and gas for roughly half a million inhabitants of
Slovakia.
In 2020, state authorities approved the establishment
of a hydrogen technology research center in Košice, which will deal with
the use of hydrogen propulsion in the field of transport. Through the
application of the research results, the center expects that Slovakia
could get closer to the European Commission's desired goals of carbon
neutrality by 2050.
In the southwest of the city is the Košice International Airport, with regular flights to Prague (Ryanair), Vienna (Austrian Airlines), Warsaw (LOT), Warsaw Modlin (Ryanair), London Luton (Wizz Air), London Stansted (Ryanair), Düsseldorf ( Eurowings), Liverpool (Ryanair), Doncaster Sheffield (Wizz Air) and summer charter flights to some Mediterranean and Black Sea holiday destinations. There is also a bus service from the city or transfer connection to Budapest Ferihegy Airport, Vienna-Schwechat Airport and John Paul II Airport. Kraków-Balice.
Košice is connected by the D1-SVK-2020.svg highway to Prešov, Poprad
and Ružomberok. Completion of its subsequent sections, enabling the
highway connection to Bratislava and Žilina, is expected by 2030 at the
earliest.
The R2-SVK-2020.svg expressway should bring a
high-quality connection to the southern section through Zvolen. The
R4-SVK-2020.svg expressway, which was built between 2010 and 2013,
brought the highway connection to the Hungarian border south to Budapest
and Miškovec. Its continuation to Miškolec, Hungary, will be ensured by
the completion of the M30 (Hu) Otszogletu kek tabla highway. svg.
Due to the favorable urban structure, there are two urban traffic
circles in Košice (they are marked with vertical informative traffic
signs) and a highway bypass is under construction.
Inner city
circuit (I.) Circuit 1.svg encircles the historic core and is formed by
wide four-lane streets: Štefánikova, Protifášistických vojářov, Senný
trh, Námestie osloboditelův, Štúrova, Moyzesova and Hviezdoslavova (in
the opposite direction Bačíkova-Továrenská).
Outer city circuit
(II.) Circuit 2.svg runs through the outskirts of the city on four-lane
roads: Alejová, Trieda SNP, Watsonova, Hlinkova, Prešovská, Južné
nábrežie, Nižné Kapustníky. The eastern part of the city ring road was
built between 1987 and 2008 as a highway feeder to the D1-SVK-2020.svg
highway. Part of this circuit is formed by the expressway
R4-SVK-2020.svg, which completes the current bypass of Košice.
Once built, the Košice bypass will bypass the city and divert transit
traffic in all directions, connecting the D1-SVK-2020.svg highway and
the R4-SVK-2020.svg R2-SVK-2020.svg expressways. It starts at the
intersection D1-SVK-2020.svg Budimír, it will continue in the direction
of the east, there it is planned to continue the highway to the
Ukrainian border, the Košice bypass will continue further south, there
it will connect to R4-SVK-2020.svg continuing to the Hungarian borders,
then a direct connection to the expressway for the company U.S. Steel
Košice will be created, and the western part of the Košice bypass will
end at the intersection of Košice, Šaca, where the continuation of the
expressway R2-SVK-2020.svg to Bratislava is planned. Construction of the
bypass began on November 11, 2016. Completion of the construction of the
entire highway bypass is planned for 2021.
Bus transport is
provided from the bus station adjacent to the railway, on suburban,
state and international lines operated by eurobus, a.s. In addition to
the traditional Western European lines, a high-quality connection with
Ukraine to the cities of Uzhhorod and Mukachevo, as well as the Polish
city of Krakow, is ensured using the bus and minibus lines of the
private carrier Leo Express.
Railway transport in Košice has existed since August 14, 1860, when
the Printing Railway was extended from Miškovec to Košice. Other tracks
were added later:
1870: Košice-Bohumín railway via Žilina to Silesian
Bohumín, with a branch to Prešov.
1873: Zemplín railway to Michalian
and further to Čierna nad Tisou.
1890: The Turnian railway through
Turna nad Bodvou and Tornanádaska to Miškovec, its connection with
Rožňava from 1955 also provided a southern connection with the west of
Slovakia.
Košice railway station in the eastern part of the wider
center is the main station of the city, on the territory of which there
are also railway stations Barca, Krásna nad Hornádom and railway stops
Košice predmestie and Ťahanovce.
In the Čermeľské údolí in the
north-east of the city, the narrow-gauge Košická children's historical
railway is in operation during the summer season.
The broad-gauge
railway line ends in Košice, along which iron ore is transported from
Ukraine to U.S. Steel Košice. In the past, it was seriously considered
to extend it to Vienna.
Košice is home to the oldest urban public transport in today's
Slovakia. The beginning of rail transport operation falls in November
1891. Relatively late, only in the 50s of the last century, a new means
of transport appeared in the streets of the city - the bus. In the
1960s, a high-capacity tramway was built to transport employees to VSŽ
(today's U.S. Steel). In the years 1993 – 2015, trolleybuses also
operated in Košice.
Municipal public transport is provided by the
Transport Company of the City of Košice, which operates a total of 65
lines of regular public transport by the following means of transport:
buses (on 52 routes, including 7 night routes and one school route)
trams (on 15 lines, of which seven city lines and eight for servicing
ironworks)
trolleybuses (on 2 lines, suspended operation, replaced by
buses, occasional historic runs)
Bridges in Košice
Several
bridges for road and rail transport lead across the small Hornád river
in Košice. Some are only for pedestrians.
Košice is a city with a rich sports tradition, which significantly contributes to spreading the good name of the city. Already in 1924, the first edition of the oldest marathon in Europe - the International Peace Marathon - was held in Košice, making it the second city in the world, after the American Boston, to host this type of running sport discipline. Another visibility of Košice abroad was their football club 1. FC Košice (later FC VSS Košice), whose players were the first team from Slovakia to qualify for the group stage of the UEFA Champions League. Košice hockey has been a household name on the domestic and international scene for decades. HC Košice last became champions of Slovakia in the 2022/2023 season.