The ancient royal city of Košice was once the centre of Northern Hungary and is today located in eastern Slovakia. In the fourteenth century it was granted many privileges and became a city of goldsmiths and bell-founders and also an important trading city.

The Gothic Saint Elizabeth Cathedral characterises the architectural ensemble of the Old Town. It was named after the Hungarian king's daughter, Elisabeth, who was married to the Thuringian landgrave, Ludwig The Fourth, and who lived on the Wartburg. From 1380, and influenced by French architecture, the construction of the cathedral took a hundred and thirty years to complete. It was not until the end of the nineteenth century, and in corresponding spirit, that it was radically adapted according to Neo Gothic design.

In the middle of a large market place, playful water fountains entertain beneath shady trees. In time with the music, the water jets perform balletic movements that never fail to attract many onlookers. Next, a freestanding carillon that has twenty two bells which ring out hourly with the melodies of east Slovakian folk songs.

The East-Slovakian Museum is one of Slovakia’s oldest museums and contains the history of the city and surrounding area. It is also where the Golden Treasure Of Košice can be admired in full: almost three thousand gold coins from eighty one European mints dating from the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries, plus a Renaissance gold chain.

Košice became a powerful centre of both trade and culture and one of the largest and most prosperous cities of mediaeval times.