Košice

Košice, city, eastern Slovakia. It lies on the Hornád River, south of Prešov.

Košice originated in the 9th century and was chartered in 1241. In the late Middle Ages it was one of the 24 trading settlements of the Polish-Slovak frontier, in which immigrant German merchants were prominent. In 1660 Benedict Kischdy, the Hungarian bishop of Eger, founded a university at Košice that was later suppressed by the Austrians. There are remnants of the city’s stout 17th-century fortifications, built as a defense against the Turks; particularly well preserved are the Hangman’s Bastion, now a museum, and the Mikluš Prison. The long medieval street known as Hlavná Ulica is still the centre of the city. Along it stand the great Gothic Cathedral of St. Elizabeth, St. Michael’s Chapel, Levoča House (the former warehouse of the trading-settlement merchants), and several other churches and palaces.

Košice developed rapidly after it became a part of Czechoslovakia in 1920. In 1938 the city was occupied by the Hungarians; after liberation in 1945, it became the first seat of the postwar Czechoslovakian government and of the Slovak National Council. Šafařík University (1959) and several scientific and research institutes were founded in the city in the decades after World War II. Since 1945 Košice’s population has more than doubled, and the city is now the political, economic, and cultural centre of southeastern Slovakia.

Košice lies between the mineral-rich Slovak Ore Mountains to the west (with iron ore, magnesite, and limestone) and a fertile agricultural plain to the east. It is both a centre for heavy industry and a market for farm products. One of eastern Europe’s largest integrated iron and steel complexes is at Huko, just south of Košice. Nearby are several spas and villages, notably Herlany, Jasov, Jahodná, and Štós. The city is home to the Eastern Slovakia Museum. Pop. (2011) 240,433.