The after-dark show
Colour and music together, repeating every half hour.
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A fountain in front of the State Theatre whose water moves in time with music, and it is **the evening appointment** for the people of Košice rather than a tourist sight. It opened in **1986** — in the socialist period — and was among the first of its kind in Czechoslovakia at the time. It was completely rebuilt in 2018 with modern systems. It runs about 30 metres, with dozens of jets rising, falling and changing colour to a piece of music, and the shows repeat roughly every half hour in the warmer months. The music is mostly classical, with special programmes for occasions. Directly beside it is the **clock tower**, which sounds a chime on the hour. What makes it worth standing at is not the technology but **what happens around it**: families sit on the rim, children run between the jets, and young people arrange to meet there. It is where you see Košice as it actually is. Note: **seasonal** — it runs roughly April to October and stops in winter.
Colour and music together, repeating every half hour.
Directly beside it, chiming on the hour.
Families and children on the rim — Košice as it is.
Hlavná, in front of the State Theatre, Košice
State Theatre KošiceA neo-Renaissance building standing squarely in the middle of Hlavná square, div1 minute walk4.7
Urban''s TowerA detached bell tower standing directly beside the cathedral, built in the fourt1 minute walk4.7
St Elisabeth''s CathedralThe largest church in Slovakia, and **the easternmost Gothic cathedral in Europe1 minute walk4.8
Hlavná StreetKošice''s main street, and in truth a **spindle-shaped square**: it begins narro1 minute walk
Mikluš PrisonTwo fifteenth-century Gothic houses merged into one building, which served as **3 minutes walk4.7**One full day** covers the centre without rushing: the length of Hlavná, the cathedral with its crypt and tower, Urban''s Tower, Mikluš prison, the East Slovak Museum, then the Singing Fountain in the evening. A **second day** opens up the surroundings, which are honestly the better part: the **Zádielska gorge** and **Jasovská Cave** (both within an hour by car, the cave UNESCO-listed), or the **Herľany geyser**. With three days, add the town of **Levoča** or **Spiš Castle** to the west. ⚠ Košice is **far less crowded than Bratislava** and cheaper, and most of its visitors are Slovak — which is half its appeal.