Sightseeing

The City of Prešov

General Information
Prešov is a city located in eastern Slovakia with a population of 92000. It is the third largest city in Slovakia after Bratislava and Košice. It is also a seat of the administrative Prešov Region, Prešov University and Orthodox archbishopric. Buildings standing in the historical center are part of Town Monument Centre.
Prešov is known as an industrial centre; there are mostly mechanical, clothing industry and electric engineering companies.

History
First habitants came to the region of Prešov already in Paleolithic period. We know that from the oldest discovered tools which are more than 28000 years old. Further historical information is discovered only from the 8th century and later.

Prešov used to be a part of Kingdom of Hungary in the end of 11th century. The city was founded in 1132 by King of Hungary – Blind Béla and named after strawberries in Hungarian – Eperjes. After the Mongol invasions in 1241, many German settles moved to the city. Eperjes received its municipal privileges from Andrew III. Later, in 1374, it was declared a free royal town what had a great influence to the development of crafts and trade. In the 15th century, the city joined Pentapolitana – an alliance of 5 towns of north-eastern Hungary (Prešov, Košice, Bardejov, Levoča and Sabinov).

In 1687, a Hapsburg general executed 24 local Protestants, some of them noblemen, who had supported Košice rebel leader Imre Thököly. This is known as the Prešov Massacre. Fighting erupted again during the revolutions of 1848-1849. In 1919, when Prešov was part of the new Czechoslovakia, a socialist revolution in Hungary spread here. Leaders declared a Slovak Soviet Republic in Prešov's town hall (Hlavná 73). Czechoslovak forces drove out the Hungarians and the Slovak Soviet Republic collapsed.

Prešov experienced a Bubonic plague and a lot of great fires during the first half of 18th century where it lost more than 2000 inhabitants. After these tragedies the locals successfully recovered the city, crafts and trades were improved again and new factories were built. Town went through a huge progress in 19th century, when the locals introduced electricity, telegraph, telephone and a sewage system. Unfortunately, the town was destroyed again by fire in 1889. Prešov became a part of Czechoslovakia in 1918.

Sights
Church of St. Nicholas
Parish Church of St. Nicholas (Kostol sv. Mikoláša) is the main dominant of the city. The church was built in Gothic style during the 14th century but its construction was finished in 1515. Its gothic elements – portals, domes, decorated windows – were preserved despite of the huge fire in 1788. The biggest treasure of the church is its main altar built in the end of 17th century. The tower, opened to public, offers a beautiful view of the town.

Greek–Catholic St. John the Baptist Cathedral
Greek–Catholic St. John the Baptist Cathedral (Grécko-katolícka katedrála sv. Jána Krstiteľa) was built in baroque style in 18th century. The most interesting and rare relic is the Turin Shroud. According to the legend Jesus was wrapped up by it after he was putted down from the cross. There are only 4 copies all around the world (Prešov, Torino, Jerusalem and Vilnius). The cathedral was visited by the Pope John Paul II. during his official visit in 1995.

Solivar near Prešov
It is historically most important salt deposit in locality Solivar near Prešov in eastern Slovakia with number of preserved technical monuments connected with extraction of salt.
Salt springs existed there since the Middle Ages. Salt was obtained from them until 1572 when mining started. As the mines were flooded by water in 1752, it was necessary to apply a different and new technology. The mine changed into an underground salt lake and the technology then applied consisted in extracting the salt water in leather sacks to earth surface with the help of a pump driven by animals.
One such pump still exists in the pit Leopold. It is from the 19th century and accessible to public. In Solivar, apart from technical monuments, visitors can also see the former salt store, the cooking room František, and the chapel of St Roch.

Fortifications
Town fortification system started to be built during the 14th century. Well designed structure of the walls, water moats, bridges and trapdoors remained well-preserved until now. Florian’s Gate used to be the historical entrance of the town located on the street with a same name.