Košice

Košice
 
Basic information about the city
In terms of its size and importance in the Slovak Republic, the city of Košice ranks right after the capital Bratislava. It lies in the eastern part of Slovakia, not far from the borders with Hungary (20 km), Ukraine (80 km) and Poland (90 km). Košice lies in the valley of the river Hornad. It has population of about 250 000 people. The climate in Košice is moderately warm with average temperatures of 19° C in July and -3° C in January.
The city of Košice is governed by the Mayor and the City Council.
There are many nationalities in Košice – Slovaks, Hungarians, Romany but also Czechs, Ukrainian and Ruthenian.
 
Košice has a strong economic background, and the city creates employment opportunities for the population of the surrounding region as well as its own. The biggest local employer is the U. S. Steel Košice steelworks, and of the total number of registered employees in the city as a whole, the great majority work in the industrial sphere. The education and transport sectors are also strongly represented here.
 
The education system is significantly represented in the city, with over 45 basic schools, 10 grammar schools, 4 commercial academies, and 15 specialized secondary schools covering industrial technologies, agriculture, health care and the arts. There is also the Technical University with 8 faculties, P. J. Šafárik University with 4 faculties, the University of Economics and the University of Veterinary Medicine.
 
Short History of Kosice
 Košice – one of the oldest towns - is a city with a rich and glorious past. It starts with the first mention of a community here in a document from the year 1230, when Košice is referred to as “Villa Cassa”. The town itself was founded by German colonists from Lower Saxony together with the original local Slav settlers after the year 1243. It is assumed that in 1290 Košice acquired town privileges, with the right to hold markets and fairs, collect taxes and build fortified walls. Further privileges granted in 1342 and 1347 gave Košice the status of a free royal town, ranking it as one of the leading centres of Greater Hungary. Then in 1369 King Ludovicus Magnus granted Košice a coat of arms, making it absolutely the first town in Europe to use such a symbol. Following the period of economic flourishing and relative peace in the 14th and 15th centuries, Košice in the 16th and 17th centuries experienced troubled times as a result first of the Turkish invasion threat, then the religious conflicts of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, and later the series of aristocratic rebellions against the Habsburgs. Despite repeated armed clashes, during this time the Jesuits were able to make Košice a seat of learning with its own university and secondary schools followed  by the peace and progressive growth in the 18th and 19th centuries. The new By the end of the 19th century Košice had developed into one of the most important industrial cities in Greater Hungary. In 1918 Košice became part of the first Czechoslovak Republic, and although the wartime Hungarian occupation from 1938 to 1945 brought economic and demographic decline, at the end of the Second World War Košice for a while became the capital of the re-established Czechoslovakia. From the 1950’s onwards the city experienced furious growth, accelerated mainly by the building of the East Slovakian Steelworks. In the space of one generation there was a five-fold increase in the city’s population, and a twenty-fold expansion in its built-up area.
 
Historical core of Košice represents the biggest reservoir of historical monuments in Slovakia. In terms of art & history, the most valuable buildings are situated around the original Middle Age square – present.
 
St. Elizabeth's Cathedral, considered to be one of the most beautiful Gothic structures in the world, was built between 1378 and 1508 and is the city's oldest architectural landmark. Particularly imposing is the main altar with its three oversize statues and forty-eight panel paintings, while the lateral altars, Gothic wall paintings and sculptures add to the charm. Refurbishment work on the Cathedral is currently under way.
 
St. Michael's Chapel located to the south of the Catedral, is a single-nave Gothic edifice from the 14th century. Originally a cemetery chapel, it is the city's second oldest building.
 
The Forgach (Pongrácz - Forgács) Palace, an Empire style, 2 story palace, built for the nobility in the early 19th Century, currently houses the State Science Library.
 
The Eastern-Slovakia Museum, a majestic neo-Renaissance structure built in 1899, anchors the north end of the square. Exhibitions on eastern-Slovakia regional development, numismatic collections, and the Gold Treasure of Kosice - hoard of golden coins and other golden objects - are located here.
 
The State Theatre
 The representative building of the State Theatre is situated in the city centre. It was built in a new-baroque style during the years 1879-1899. Originally before that a town-hall building was standing here.
 The interior of theatre is richly decorated with plaster ornaments.
 In 1988 - 1994 the building of the theatre was reconstructed together with the park and fountain.
 
Immaculata
. It commemorates the plague from the years 1710 -1711 and is dated from 1720 - 1723.
 
Other historical buildings:
Saint Urban's tower
The House of Beggar
Jacab's Palace
Mikluš's Prison
 
Sports
The oldest annual marathon in Europe and second oldest in the entire world, after the world famous Boston Marathon, is the Košice Peace Marathon, founded in 1924. It is run in the city every year on the first Sunday of October. Ice hockey club HC Košice is one of the most successful Slovak hockey clubs. It plays in Slovakia's highest league, the Extraliga, and has won six titles in 1995, 1996, 1999, 2009, 2010 and 2011, and two titles (1986 and 1988) in the former Czechoslovak Extraliga. Since 2006, their home is the Steel Aréna which has a capacity of 8,343 spectators. Football club MFK Košice currently plays in the Corgoň Liga. It was the first club from Slovakia reach the group stages of the UEFA Champions League and is a two times domestic league winner (1998 and 1999). After relegation in 2003, the club returned to the Corgoň Liga in 2005. Other clubs in the city include the women's basketball team Good Angels Košice. Košice was host to the 2011 IIHF World Championship in ice hockey.