The water column
About fifteen metres, lasting twenty to thirty minutes.
Ing.Mgr.Jozef Kotulič — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ing.Mgr.Jozef Kotulič — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ing.Mgr.Jozef Kotulič — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ing.Mgr.Jozef Kotulič — CC BY-SA 4.0
One of the **few cold-water geysers in the world**, erupting in a small village east of Košice — a rare phenomenon fundamentally different from Iceland''s geysers. Ordinary geysers are driven by geothermal heat: the water boils and is forced out. Here the water is **cold** (about 14-18 degrees) and the driver is dissolved **carbon dioxide**: gas accumulates under pressure in the column until it passes a threshold and pushes the water up in one surge — the same principle that makes a shaken bottle of fizzy water erupt. It was not natural in origin: in **1875** an artesian well was drilled to **404 metres** in search of medicinal mineral water, and the geyser began erupting afterwards. The column reaches about **15 metres** and the eruption lasts some **20-30 minutes**. Note: **the interval between eruptions is about 32-36 hours**, and it **varies** — so arriving at random most likely means seeing nothing. Note: **an estimated schedule of upcoming eruptions is published** on local sites; do not go without checking it.
About fifteen metres, lasting twenty to thirty minutes.
Dissolved gas is the driver, like a shaken bottle of fizzy water.
An old mineral-water spa, entirely quiet today.
Herľany — about 30 km north-east of Košice
**Only if you check the schedule first.** This is not a continuous feature like a waterfall or a spring: the geyser erupts **roughly once every day and a half** for twenty to thirty minutes, and at any other time there is nothing to see but a wellhead and a stone basin in a small park. The interval is **quite irregular** and affected by atmospheric pressure, so even the published schedule carries a margin of hours. Practically: find the expected time, arrive **at least an hour before**, and be ready to wait or be disappointed. ⚠ Since it is only 30 km from Košice, the smarter move is to **fold it into another day in the area** rather than drive out for it alone. ⚠ Anyone wanting a guaranteed sight the same day should choose **Zádielska** or **Jasovská Cave** instead.
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