Old Town Hall

The oldest known medieval town hall of Košice stood in the middle of the square, on the site of today's national theatre, but it had fallen into such disrepair by the modern era that it had to be demolished in 1756. The building now known as the "old town hall" is a two-storey, representative, late Baroque palace built in a closed row in the eastern wall of the main square, north of the St. Elizabeth Cathedral. It was built in 1780 by order of Maria Theresa on an area formed by the unification of several medieval plots, based on the plans of the chamber architect János Langer. The sculptural decorations were created by Antal Krausz from Jászó, and the paintings by Erazmusz Schrött. ; On the side wall of the staircase, there is a Renaissance coat of arms plaque of György Szathmáry, the great patron of Košice, with a hexameter Latin inscription in Hungarian: “I wore the two lilies united with the same number of roses, King Corvin himself added the golden lion. 1492.” ; On the ceiling of the staircase, the fresco depicting the allegory of Hungarian law is noteworthy, created in 1781 by the Viennese Schrött Erazmus, who was a painter and a drawing teacher in Košice. ; The main street facade is symmetrical, with seven axes. The most striking part is the slightly protruding central projection, which is decorated with the - somewhat defective - coat of arms of the city of Košice, carved from stone, set in a tympanum. A puppet railing runs along its cornice, on which Baroque statues and vases stand. The windows on the upper floor are framed by rich Rococo plaster decorations. The picture fields above the windows also show scenes in relief made of plaster. Valuable rococo blacksmith work is the grille of the balcony of the state hall opening onto the street, as well as several iron grilles inside the building. ; The rear wing of the building is not nearly as representative, a typical Košice, one-storey wing with a circular arcade enclosing a long, narrow courtyard. ; ; At the turn of 1805-1806, one of the prominent figures in the fight against Napoleon, the Russian General Kutuzov, stayed in this house. The house served as the town hall until 1927, and since then it has also served several public functions, including a library. It is a modern tradition that the mayor of Košice receives visiting heads of state and government, as well as other distinguished guests, in the state hall of the old town hall.