Kosice as the first (and so far only) city in Slovakia has its official 7 wonders. St. Elizabeth Cathedral is a first of them. The largest church in Slovakia with a capacity of over 5,000 people and the easternmost Gothic cathedral in Europe is a heart and center of Kosice.
St. Elizabeth is the largest cathedral in Slovakia. That’s why it was built for more than a century. Its history is fascinating in from spiritual, civil and artistic perspective and also from the perspective of legends.
In the 14th century, when they are just beginning to build the cathedral, first wall of Kosice city walls was already finished. Cathedral was supposedly built so that if we measured its circumference with a measuring tape and then stretch it, its length should match the perimeter of fortification wall surrounding the entire city.
It is said that there is one particular stone in the cathedral – should it be removed, the whole cathedral collapses. Only medieval masters know where this stone is set-in and thus supposedly insuring themselves to be paid. In terms of static it is nonsense, but it is interesting that some of the churches in the Middle Ages really collapsed. Kosice’s Dome is not the case and that’s the why it still houses one of Europe’s uniques – the double spiral Gothic staircase from 15th century, the only of its kind in Slovakia. On each floor the two staircases converge, and many call them staircase of love, even if the official name is the royal staircase. Outside of church rainwater gargoyles are sticking out. One of them even has a form of women. According to legend, the temple builder was married to an alcoholic “bitch”, and so he avenged her behaviour by immortalizing her appearance. This story is certainly not true, just a legend! Our life experiences tell us that bad women don’t exist 🙂
There are many legends about St. Elisabeth Cathedral and a lot more facts…
