Discover the temples of Košice

Košice is known for its culture, art and deep history with international overlaps. This is evidenced by the sacred buildings in the city - synagogues, chapels, churches - which for centuries have served as sacred places for their worshippers and popular places for visitors to the city. Plan your tour in the historic centre and find out more about Košice's impressive history - plus, today you have an amazing chance to combine your trip with a visit to Visit Košice Infopoint, where we'll present a unique video tour of sacred buildings from angles that have been difficult or impossible to access at all until now!

Gothic giant of the city

St. Elizabeth Cathedral, completed in 1508

The largest and most easterly cathedral in Slovakia, with a capacity of 5,000 people, still thrones the lens-shaped city centre and the city's conservation area. Climb to the top of its 59-metre-high Sigmund Tower and watch the romantic sunset over the reddish roofs of the townhouses. Inside the dome, you will see precious artefacts such as the Mandorla with Madonna or the Reiner Epitaph, the tomb of Francis II of Austria, the tomb of the Reiner family, the tomb of the Reiner family, the tomb of the Reiner family and the tomb of the Reiner family. Rákoczi, beautiful stained glass windows, the royal balcony and staircase and the picturesque altar. In the past, the church was also the scene of a Eucharistic miracle, known today as the Cult of the Blood of Christ.

The wedding chapel with crypt

Church of St. Michael, 1340 - 1380

This former cemetery chapel, built after the French Sainte Chapelle to hold the precious relic of the Blood of Christ, is now a popular option for wedding couples who choose to seal their marriage vows here. The church enchants visitors with its stained glass windows depicting figures of saints, murals, frescoes and a magnificent altar. Its underground spaces also hide a precious ossuary and a common crypt.

The oldest synagogue in the city

Synagogue on Zvonárská Street, 1883

Visit one of the city's decidedly most beautiful religious buildings, the synagogue on picturesque Zvonárská Street, dating from 1883. See the Moorish elements of the oldest synagogue in the city and the spacious hall with cast-iron columns and wooden emporia. The building, heavily marked by time, is now open for many artistic and cultural events. The synagogue is part of the European Jewish Heritage Routes project.

Oelschläger's Pink Pride

Orthodox synagogue, 1926-1927

One of the masterpieces of the prominent Budapest architect, Ludovit Oelschläger, can be found on Puškinova Street as an eternal legacy to the suffering of the Jewish community of Košice and adjacent villages - this site served as a concentration building before deportation to the extermination camps during the Holocaust. The synagogue is in neoclassical style and its interior consists of local traditional motifs, a central hall, a women's gallery separated by a metal mechitza and a beautiful blue dome.

Reformed tower with the rooster from the Cathedral

Calvinist church, 1811

The Calvinist, or otherwise known as the Reformed Church, can be found on the square next to Miklus Prison and before entering the charming Alley of Crafts. The early 19th-century church hides a classical pulpit and an organ from 1813. Note also the rare rooster at the top of the church from the height of the 48-metre tower! And did you know that this rooster was originally located on the north tower of St. Elizabeth's Cathedral?

The oldest building in the city

The Church of the Assumption, completed in 1290

The Dominican Church, or the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, is the oldest sacred building in the city and also the oldest surviving building in Košice. The Gothic building, dating from around 1290, also contains an altar of the Rosary of the Virgin Mary, which serves as a reference to Saint Dominic, the founder of the order. The church with the highest tower in the city (68 metres) hides in its underground fantastic catacombs, which in the past formed the original level of the city.

A monument to the plague of Košice

Immaculata sculpture, 1723

The Plague Column, or the Immaculate Virgin Mary Sculpture, is a Baroque sacred object in the middle of the Main Street and serves as a reference to the plague that struck the city in 1709-1710. Its top, the Immaculate Virgin Mary was placed in 1723 to a height of 14 feet with a 12-star wreath. She symbolizes love and care and protector of the city's inhabitants from misery and suffering. One of the highlights of the Immaculata in Košice is the fact that the remains of St. Valentine, the patron saint of lovers, are also found in its stone bowels!

A restored bell from the ironworkers

Urbanova tower, 1628

Don't miss the bell tower of St. Elisabeth Cathedral dedicated to St. Urban - the patron saint of wine-growers from the second half of the 16th century. In 1966, there was a fire here, which destroyed the tower roof and the bell of Urban. Between 1967 and 1971 the tower was reconstructed in the form in which we know it today. In addition, you can visit the Urban Tower on the occasion of the exhibition of Mass wines and the exhibition on the life and work of Cardinal Jozef Tomek. The tower has been declared a national cultural monument together with the St. Elizabeth Cathedral and the former St. Michael's Chapel.

Illusionary painting to the heavens

Holy Trinity Church, 1671-1681

The Premonstratensian Baroque church on Main Street is another landmark of the city with its impressive façade, original Jesuit decoration and reverberating Renaissance architecture. Take a close look at its illusionistic painting by Erasmus Schrötto from 1786, which creates the impression of a third dimension, as well as the decoration of the main altar with the motif of the Holy Trinity.

Mining chapel in the middle of the forest

Chapel of St. John of Nepomuk, 1922

Make a pilgrimage to the Košice Urban Forest in the recreational and popular Bankov area in the north of the city. The chapel, built in 1922, is located on the promenade of the forest nature trail as a reference to the Old Banská cesta and is situated under the spring of Jan Nepomucký - a saint and martyr whose body was thrown into the Vltava River after his martyrdom by the Czech King Václav IV. Jan Nepomucký is today the patron saint of pallbearers and confessors.

Source: The Invisible Mag

The patron saint of firefighters at the Cathedral

Statue of St. Florian, 1748

Pay attention to the extraordinary statue of the saint at the Cathedral of St. Elizabeth. The statue of St. Florian is just one of the attractions of the largest cathedral in Slovakia. Stop by and take a closer look at the statue - the city had it erected in 1748 and placed in its current location, in the atrium of the south portal, in 1940. Saint Florian is known as the protector against fire and the patron saint of firefighters.

Are you impressed by this top 10 sacral buildings of Košice? Download our online map of holy places in Košice and plan your city tour at your own pace quite easily with all the information you need!