Košice: top attractions & road trip guide
Košice is Slovakia's second-largest city and the historical capital of the eastern region, built around one of the largest medieval town centers in Europe and anchored by the largest Gothic cathedral in the country. Long a crossroads of trade between Hungary, Poland, and the Balkans, it carries a mixed Hungarian, German, and Slovak heritage visible in its architecture, and it served as European Capital of Culture in 2013.
On a driving route through eastern Slovakia, Košice serves as a major waypoint linking routes toward the Spiš region's castles to the north and the wine country and Tokaj vineyards near the Hungarian border to the south. Its pedestrianized main square, lined with cafes and historic facades, makes for an easy stop to break up longer stretches of highway driving in the less-visited eastern part of the country.
Top attractions
St. Elisabeth Cathedral
The largest cathedral in Slovakia and the easternmost Gothic cathedral in Europe, built from the 14th to 15th centuries, with a crypt containing the remains of a Hungarian anti-Habsburg leader.
Hlavná Street
The pedestrianized main square running through the old town, lined with baroque and neoclassical facades, a singing musical fountain, and outdoor cafes framing the cathedral at its center.
State Theatre Košice
A neo-baroque theater built in the late 19th century on Hlavná Street, home to opera, ballet, and drama companies and a landmark of the city's cultural life.
East Slovak Museum
One of the oldest museums in Slovakia, best known for exhibiting the Košice Gold Treasure, a hoard of gold coins and Renaissance jewelry discovered in the city in 1935.
Immaculata Column
A baroque plague column erected in the early 18th century on Hlavná Street, topped by a statue of the Virgin Mary and commemorating deliverance from an epidemic.
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