City Europe
Košice
Košice is a city in Slovakia, in a valley by a river. It is the second-biggest city in Slovakia.
Košice is the second-largest city in Slovakia and the center of the country's east. It lies in the valley of the Hornád River, with hills and mountains around it. Slovakia's 2021 census counted 229,040 people in the city.
Košice, the main center of eastern Slovakia, lies on the Hornád, where the Carpathians meet the Great Hungarian Plain (Universalis), in the Košice Basin (City of Košice); first mentioned in 1230 (City of Košice). Census 1 January 2021: 229,040, Slovakia's second city.
Photo: Ladislav Luppa, CC0 1.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Discover Košice
Košice is a city in Slovakia. Only Bratislava, the capital, is bigger.
People have written about Košice for almost 800 years.
The City of Košice says it is the second-largest city in Slovakia, and Universalis calls it the main center of eastern Slovakia. The settlement was first mentioned in writing in 1230, and it grew where old trade routes crossed, so for centuries it played an important part in trade and culture.
Slovakia's census of 1 January 2021 counted 229,040 people in the city.
Universalis: the main center of eastern Slovakia, on the Hornád, where the Carpathians meet the Great Hungarian Plain, a position that gave it an important commercial and cultural role over the centuries; about 235,000 people (2006 estimate). City of Košice: the second-largest city in Slovakia; the settlement is mentioned in 1230.
Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic via City Population: Košice city 236,093 (2001), 240,433 (2011), 229,040 (census 1 January 2021); estimate 31 December 2025: 222,286.
- Country
- Slovakia (the center of eastern Slovakia)
- People in the city (census, 1 January 2021)
- 229,040
- Rank
- the second-largest city in Slovakia (City of Košice)
- First mention
- 1230 (City of Košice)
Streets and squares
In this photo, roads with crossings meet at a square in Košice. Cars are parked beside buildings, under a cloudy sky.
This photo shows Kasárenské námestie, a square in Košice, on 18 August 2026. Roads with pedestrian crossings meet in the middle, cars are parked to the left, and buildings stand around it under a cloudy sky.
Slovakia's tourism board says almost all of the city's monuments are in its historic core, the largest Town Monument Reserve in Slovakia. Its main square, Hlavné námestie, is spindle-shaped: long and wider in the middle.
Commons: 'Kasárenské námestie v Košiciach', own work by Ladislav Luppa (uploader Luppus, his account), CC0, taken 18 August 2026; no camera location.
Slovakia Travel (Slovak tourism): almost all of Košice's monuments are concentrated in the historical core, the largest Town Monument Reserve of Slovakia; the spindle-shaped Hlavné námestie. City of Košice: the spindle-shaped square is typical of eastern Slovak towns. Wikidata: National Theatre Košice (Q133708), an opera house, 0.77 km NE of the city point.
- Photo
- Kasárenské námestie, a square in Košice, 18 August 2026, by Ladislav Luppa
- Historic core
- the largest Town Monument Reserve in Slovakia (Slovakia Travel)
- Main square
- Hlavné námestie, spindle-shaped, a shape typical of eastern Slovak towns (City of Košice)
A town on the trade roads
Long ago, traders' roads crossed where Košice stands. The town grew, and markets sold goods from faraway towns.
The City of Košice says the town grew up where old long-distance trade routes crossed, on fertile land near where the Hornád and Torysa rivers meet. The settlement was mentioned in 1230, and before 1249 German settlers there were granted their first privileges.
By the end of the 1200s, markets were held in the town, trading goods from Prussia, from the Hansa towns of Germany and from Kraków in Poland.
City of Košice: the position at the crossroads of old long-distance trade routes, on a fertile river terrace near the meeting of the Hornád and Torysa, was the key to its growth; the area has been settled since the Paleolithic (an Aurignacian camp site at Barca); the settlement was mentioned in 1230, on the site of today's Slovenská Street; German settlers arrived and founded homes next to it; first privileges before 1249; town walls partly built by the end of the 13th century; markets traded imported goods from Prussia, the Hansa towns and Kraków. Universalis: industrialization from the end of the 1950s brought new growth.
- 1230
- the settlement is mentioned; it stood where Slovenská Street is today (City of Košice)
- Before 1249
- German settlers there were granted their first privileges (City of Košice)
- End of the 13th century
- markets traded goods from Prussia, the Hansa towns of Germany and Kraków (City of Košice)
A valley among the hills
Košice sits in a valley with hills all around it. A river called the Hornád flows through the valley.
The City of Košice says the city lies in the valley of the Hornád River, in the Košice Basin. The Čierna hora mountains rise to the north, the Slovak Ore Mountains and the Volovské vrchy hills to the west, and the Slanské vrchy hills to the east.
Universalis says Košice stands where the Carpathian Mountains meet the Great Hungarian Plain, a position that made it important for trade for centuries.
City of Košice: in the valley of the Hornád River and the Košice Basin (Košická kotlina), at the foot of the Čierna hora mountains to the north and the Slovak Ore Mountains and Volovské vrchy to the west; the basin is bordered on the east by the Slanské vrchy; to the southwest lies the Slovak Karst. Universalis: on the Hornád, in contact with the Carpathians and the Great Hungarian Plain; this position let it play a very important commercial and cultural role over the centuries.
- River
- the Hornád, in the Košice Basin (City of Košice)
- Hills around
- the Čierna hora mountains to the north, the Slovak Ore Mountains and Volovské vrchy to the west, the Slanské vrchy to the east (City of Košice)
- Where two lands meet
- where the Carpathians meet the Great Hungarian Plain (Universalis)
Cold winters, warm summers
Košice has cold winters and warm summers. Summer brings the most rain.
The World Meteorological Organization's averages for Košice, from 1991 to 2020, show cold winters and warm summers: the average daily high is 1.0 °C in January and 26.8 °C in August, and the average low is −4.8 °C in January.
July is the wettest month, with 93.5 millimeters, and March the driest, with 23.6. The twelve months add up to about 613 millimeters.
WMO World Weather Information Service, Košice (Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute; period 1991–2020 as given in the data): mean daily maximum 1.0 °C (Jan) to 26.8 °C (Aug); mean daily minimum −4.8 °C (Jan) to 14.8 °C (Jul); below freezing in December, January and February. Precipitation 23.6 mm (Mar) to 93.5 mm (Jul); sum of the months 612.9 mm. Mean days with at least 1 mm: 9.0 (Mar) to 14.2 (Dec). The City of Košice describes a warm, rather dry basin climate with 600–700 mm of precipitation a year.
- Average daily highs (WMO, Košice, 1991–2020)
- 1.0 °C (January) to 26.8 °C (August)
- Average daily lows (same table)
- −4.8 °C (January) to 14.8 °C (July)
- Rain and snow in a year (twelve months added up)
- about 613 mm
A marathon, a museum and steel
Every autumn, runners race a marathon in Košice. People have run it since 1924! The city also has a museum with a golden treasure.
Slovakia's tourism board says the International Peace Marathon has been run in Košice every autumn since 1924, making it one of the oldest marathons in the world; a statue of a marathon runner is a symbol of the city. The East Slovak Museum shows the Golden Hoard of Košice.
Universalis describes a very large steelworks in Košice and factories that make machinery, textiles and building materials.
Slovakia Travel: the statue of the Marathon Runner recalls the International Peace Marathon, organized every autumn since 1924, one of the oldest marathons in the world; the East Slovak Museum's admired exhibits include the Golden Hoard of Košice; the foundations of the Dolná brána gate are now a gallery and concert hall. Universalis: an enormous steel complex and factories for mechanical engineering, textiles and building materials. Wikidata: Košice Peace Marathon (Q923389), 'annual race in Slovakia held since 1924'; East Slovak Museum (Q1186439), founded 1872, 1.20 km NNE of the city point.
- Marathon
- the International Peace Marathon, held every autumn since 1924, one of the oldest marathons in the world (Slovakia Travel)
- Museum
- the East Slovak Museum shows the Golden Hoard of Košice (Slovakia Travel)
- Industry
- a large steelworks, and factories making machinery, textiles and building materials (Universalis)
Košice on the map
Find Slovakia on the globe. Košice is in its east.
Košice lies at about 48.7° north and 21.3° east, in eastern Slovakia, in the Košice Basin of the Hornád River, with mountains and hills to the north, west and east.
Measured from the city's center point on Wikidata, the National Theatre Košice is about 0.8 kilometer northeast and the East Slovak Museum about 1.2 kilometers north-northeast.
Košice lies at about 48.72° N and 21.25° E (Wikidata point Q25409; the Natural Earth/sheet point is 1.53 km from it). From the Wikidata point: National Theatre Košice (Q133708) 0.77 km NE; East Slovak Museum (Q1186439) 1.20 km NNE.
- Latitude
- about 48.7° north
- Longitude
- about 21.3° east
- Region
- eastern Slovakia (Universalis)
Amazing facts
-
Košice has had a marathon race every autumn since 1924!
Slovakia's tourism board says the International Peace Marathon in Košice, held every autumn since 1924, is one of the oldest marathons in the world.
Slovakia Travel: the International Peace Marathon has been organized in Košice every year in autumn since 1924; one of the oldest marathons in the world.
-
Košice's main square is shaped like a spindle: long, and wider in the middle!
The City of Košice says its main square is spindle-shaped, a shape typical of towns in eastern Slovakia.
City of Košice: the spindle-shaped square is typical of eastern Slovak towns; by the end of the 13th century a one-nave church (1260-1280) stood in its middle.
-
In Košice, July gets about four times as much rain as March!
In the World Meteorological Organization's averages, Košice gets 93.5 millimeters of rain in July and 23.6 in March.
WMO normals for Košice (1991–2020): July 93.5 mm, March 23.6 mm (about 4.0 times as much).
Words to know
- basin
- a low, wide area of land with higher ground around it
- privilege
- a special right given to a town or its people
- marathon
- a running race of about 42 kilometers
- hoard
- a hidden store of treasure, such as coins, found later
- steelworks
- a factory where iron is made into steel
- census
- an official count of all the people in a country
Discovery challenge
-
Košice is a city in which country?
Košice is the second-largest city of which country?
Universalis calls Košice the main center of the east of which country?
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Sweden
Show the answer
Slovakia
Slovakia!
Slovakia.
Slovakia.
-
Which river flows through Košice's valley?
Košice lies in the valley of which river?
The Košice Basin is the valley of which river, which meets the Torysa near the city?
- The Hornád
- The Danube
- The Vltava
Show the answer
The Hornád
The Hornád!
The Hornád River.
The Hornád.
-
What kind of race is held in Košice every autumn?
Which race has been held in Košice every autumn since 1924?
Slovakia Travel: what has been organized in Košice every autumn since 1924, one of the oldest of its kind in the world?
- A marathon
- A car race
- A boat race
Show the answer
A marathon
A marathon!
The International Peace Marathon.
The International Peace Marathon.
-
In which year was Košice first written about?
In which year was the settlement of Košice first mentioned?
City of Košice: the settlement is mentioned in which year?
- 1230
- 1924
- 2021
Show the answer
1230
1230!
1230.
1230.
-
Which month is the rainiest in Košice?
In the World Meteorological Organization's averages, which month gets the most rain in Košice?
WMO normals for Košice (1991–2020): which month has the most precipitation, 93.5 mm?
- July
- March
- January
Show the answer
July
July!
July.
July (93.5 mm).
Nearby places
-
Watch
City
Kraków
Kraków is a city in southern Poland on the Vistula River. For almost three centuries it was the capital of Poland, where kings were crowned and buried at Wawel Hill. Its historic center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and about 816,600 people lived in the city at the end of 2025.
-
Watch
City
Budapest
Budapest, the capital of Hungary, was made in 1873 by joining three towns on the Danube River: hilly Buda and old Óbuda on one bank and flat Pest on the other. About 1.7 million people live there (2026), with hot springs under the ground and the first underground railway built on the European mainland.
-
Watch
City
Lviv
Lviv is a city in western Ukraine, founded in 1256 and named after Lev, a prince's son. Its old center, with a market square, castle hill and churches of many kinds, is on UNESCO's World Heritage List. Ukraine's statistics service estimated 717,273 people there at the start of 2022.
-
Watch
City
Ostrava
Ostrava is the third-largest city in Czechia and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. Universalis says it was born of the industrial revolution, as a place for mining coal, and grew with a big iron and steel industry. Czechia's 2021 census counted 282,450 people.
-
Watch
City
Bratislava
Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia, on the Danube River close to the borders with Austria and Hungary. For more than 200 years it was the capital of the Kingdom of Hungary. The 2021 census counted 475,503 people in the city.
-
Watch
Landmark
Belvedere
The Belvedere in Vienna is made of two Baroque palaces, the Lower and the Upper Belvedere, joined by a large garden. Prince Eugene of Savoy had them built as a summer home from 1712 to 1723, to designs by Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt. In 1777 the Upper Belvedere became, the museum says, one of the world's first public museums, and today the Belvedere is an art museum.
-
Watch
City
Vienna
Vienna is the capital of Austria, on the Danube River. For centuries it was the home of emperors, and composers such as Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven lived and worked there. About 2 million people lived in the city at the start of 2026.
-
Watch
Natural wonder
Carpathians
The Carpathians are a long mountain range in Europe, shared by seven countries that protect it together under the Carpathian Convention. They hold some of Europe's last untouched forests, nearly 4,000 kinds of plants and big populations of brown bears, wolves and lynxes.
Explore next
-
Watch
Country
Slovakia
Slovakia is a landlocked country in central Europe. The Carpathian Mountains cover much of it, with the High Tatras in the north, and about 5.4 million people lived there at the end of 2025. Its capital, Bratislava, sits on the Danube River.
-
Watch
City
Bratislava
Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia, on the Danube River close to the borders with Austria and Hungary. For more than 200 years it was the capital of the Kingdom of Hungary. The 2021 census counted 475,503 people in the city.
-
Watch
City
Ostrava
Ostrava is the third-largest city in Czechia and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. Universalis says it was born of the industrial revolution, as a place for mining coal, and grew with a big iron and steel industry. Czechia's 2021 census counted 282,450 people.
-
Watch
City
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands. It began as a fishing village beside a dam on the Amstel River, which gave the city its name. Today about 942,000 people live among its rings of canals, hundreds of bridges, houseboats and bicycles.
-
Watch
City
Antwerp
Antwerp is a city in Belgium on the Scheldt river, and Universalis calls it the second port of continental Europe, after Rotterdam. Belgium's statistics office estimated 565,615 people in the city on 1 January 2026. In the 1500s it was one of Europe's great trading cities.
-
Watch
City
Athens
Athens is the capital of Greece and one of the oldest cities in the world. Above it rises the Acropolis, a rocky hill crowned by the marble Parthenon, built about 2,500 years ago. Ancient Athens was home to early democracy, great thinkers and theater.
-
Watch
City
Barcelona
Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia in northeastern Spain, lies on the Mediterranean between mountains and the sea. It is famous for the buildings of the architect Antoni Gaudí, including the Sagrada Família, a giant church begun in 1882. About 1.7 million people live in the city (2025).
-
Watch
City
Belgrade
Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, stands where the Sava River flows into the Danube. Its name, Beograd, means "white city", probably because of the white limestone walls of its old fortress above the rivers. At the 2022 census, about 1.2 million people lived in the city itself and about 1.7 million in the wider City of Belgrade.
For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Locate Košice in eastern Slovakia, in the Hornád valley.
- Explain why a town at a crossroads of trade routes can grow.
- Describe what a town's market traded long ago and where the goods came from.
- Read a climate table for a place with cold winters and warm, wetter summers.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Why might traders' roads meet in a river valley?
- Why might a city keep holding the same race every year for 100 years?
- What makes a main square a good meeting place for a town?
Try at home or in class
- Trade map: on a map of Europe, draw lines from Košice to Prussia, Germany's Hansa towns and Kraków.
- Rain bars: make a bar chart of Košice's monthly rain and find the wettest and driest months.
- Time math: the Peace Marathon began in 1924. How many years ago is that?
Key vocabulary: basin, privilege, marathon, hoard, steelworks, census
Where these facts come from
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Natural Earth vector data , Natural Earth (NACIS) (Public domain)
- Košice , Encyclopædia Universalis
- History of Košice: 13th century , City of Košice
- Košice , Slovakia Travel (Slovak tourism)
- Slovakia: Regions and Major Cities , City Population (Thomas Brinkhoff), from the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic
- Košice: climatological information (1991–2020) , World Meteorological Organization, World Weather Information Service
- File:Košice - Kasárenské námestie -1.jpg (Ladislav Luppa) , Wikimedia Commons
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file (public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA); see each media record)
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated November 1, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.