Košice (German: Kaschau, Hungarian: Kassa, Latin: Cassovia) is Slovakia's second largest city. It lies in the eastern part of the country, in the valley of the river Hornád in the Košice basin, encircled by the spurs of the Čierna Hora mountains to the north and the Volovské vrchy hills to the west. Seat of a region (kraj ) or Higher Territorial Unit (VÚC), and of a district (okres). Seat of universities and of the Slovak Constitutional Court. Seat of a Roman Catholic archbishopric (since 1995), Evangelic Lutheran bishopric and a Greek Catholic bishopric. The town has a historic center.

Administrative division

Košice are divided into 4 District and 22 City Parts:

Košice I: Džungľa, Kavečany, Sever, Sídlisko Ťahanovce, Staré mesto, Ťahanovce

Košice II: Lorinčík, Luník I-XII, Myslava, Pereš, Poľov, Sídlisko KVP, Šaca, Západ

Košice III: Dargovských Hrdinov, Košická Nová Ves

Košice IV: Barca, Juh, Krásna, Nad jazerom, Šebastovce, Vyšné Opátske

History

The first signs of inhabitance can be traced back to the end of the older stone age. The first written reference to a southern suburb of the town can be dated back to the year 1230. Its advantageous business and strategic location helped the town grew quickly. The given privileges were helpful in developing crafts, business, increasing importance and for the development of this city. The oldest guild regulations were registered in 1307 and the city received its own coat-of-arms in 1369, making it the first such town in Europe. Since the beginning of the 15th century, the city had been playing a leading role in the Pentapolitana –, an alliance of five towns (Bardejov , Levoča, Košice, Prešov, and Sabinov ). Since the 14th century, it has been the second-most important town in Slovakia (which was part of Hungary from the 11th century to 1918) after Bratislava.

In the 15th century, the town was temporarily controlled by John Giskra (Jan Jiskra), in the 17th and 18th centuries a center of anti-Habsburg uprisings in Slovakia (Hungary) and seat of Ferenc II Rakoczi. In the 17th it was the de-facto capital of Upper Hungary, which was the official designation of eastern Slovakia, i.e. of the easternmost part of the then Hungary (1563-1686 seat of the "Captaincy Upper Hungary", 1567-1848 seat of the Spiš Chamber (Zipser Kammer), which was a subsidiary of the supreme financial agency in Vienna responsible for eastern Slovakia). Between 1657 and 1921 seat of the historic Kosice University (1777 turned into a Royal Academy, in the 19th century turned to a Law Academy). In the summer of 1919, it was the seat of the Slovak Soviet Republic for a short time. 1938, after the first Vienna Award (Vienna Arbitration), Kosice was part of Hungary till the end of World War II, in 1944.

The most important building of the town is Slovakia's biggest church, the 15th-century Gothic St. Elisabeth Cathedral.

Tennis star Martina Hingis was born Martina Hingisova Molitor here in 1980.

External links

• Official website of the town
• Cassovia.info Photos, history of Kosice
• Kosice.info Tourist information

References

• Monika Vrzgula (May 21, 2003). „Ci pana, ta co v tych Košicoch zrobili?“ Part 7 of a series on Slovak towns. Inzine.sk