Authentic secrets in the underground of Košice: discover the centre and the surroundings
Explore the underground secrets of eastern Slovakia in Košice and take home unforgettable memories from your travels. The following article reveals tips on the city's nearby surroundings with underground nooks and fantastic places worthy of your private tour right in the centre.
Cave caverns on the jump from Košice
Make your travel base in Košice and set out to discover the natural underground beauty of the nearby surroundings. The Jasov Cave in the village of Jasov offers a guided tour of a 720-metre-long passageway with exceptional stalactite decoration and historical inscriptions of Hussite battles.
Take a short trip to the village of Lipovce near Prešov, where you will find the amazing Zlá hole cave, the only cave opened in the Prešov district since 1999. The underground of this cave hides up to 12 species of bats. In addition, within 100 kilometres from Košice, you will find the mythical Gemer with Silická glacierthe lowest ice cave in Slovakia, inhabited since the Neolithic Age! After visiting the caves, don't forget to reward yourself with a proper dinner in Košice restaurants with a renowned reputation and professional gastronomy.
Mining history at Hlavná
Discover the history of Košice and its surroundings through the stories inscribed in the ubiquitous monuments and exhibitions of local museums. Right in the centre of the lively action on Main Street you will find the legendary Slovak Technical Museum with a rich presentation of the former glory of the mining region, featuring credible replicas of tunnels, a spoon loader from 1958, a Manda drilling wagon, a single-arm drilling machine from the manufacturer Salzgitter Maschinen AG from 1957, and mining carts.
The underground exhibition is a breathtaking and elaborate work of the academic sculptor Arpad Raček, whose works form the outdoor space of Košice's parks and alleys. The true experience of the mining atmosphere is completed by the sound of the working noise of a rake conveyor from 1957.
Tomb of the leader of the anti-Habsburg uprisings
Find out more about the history of Košice and become better acquainted with the central figure of the anti-Habsburg Estates uprisings. The turbulent life of Prince Francis II of Transylvania. Rákoczi's life will be revealed in the exhibition in the replica of his Turkish house called Rodošto near the Main Street.
The last resting place of this legendary figure is hidden underground St. Elizabeth's Cathedral in a crypt with a sarcophagus containing his remains, which was ceremoniously transported from Turkey in 1906.
Read more about the history of Košice or go on further excursions into the surrounding picturesque countryside. Find more information in See and experience.