Kosice is a former European Capital of Culture (Picture: Lucy Mallows)

What connects an army barracks, a swimming pool and a tobacco factory?

Well, in Kosice they are three examples of clever Slovak recycling: turning old, disused buildings into venues for exciting, creative, cultural ventures.

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Slovakia’s second city is definitely in first place when it comes to street art and has some of the coolest venues in Central Europe.

Kosice is well worth a visit; it has huge historical importance, a fabulous range of cultural attractions, a wealth of architectural treasures, and a superb collection of restaurants, bars and cafes.


It’s often called the ‘gateway to eastern Slovakia’ as it makes an excellent base for exploring this undiscovered, underrated part of central Europe.



Eastern Slovakia is home to many UNESCO landmarks and four national parks.

Jakabov palac (Picture: Getty)

Local vineyards produce the legendary Tokaji wine and it is known as the cradle of pop art, as Andy Warhol’s parents were born in this region.

In 2013, Kosice was European Capital of Culture and, since then, cultural venues and artistic projects have been springing up.

Arts organisation Street Art Communication (SAC) had the original idea of introducing urban art to Kosice’s streets.

In 2008, they launched a local street art festival and, during this time, created some of the best murals.

Nowadays, you can see more than 30 murals dotted around Kosice, created by both local and international artists.

Most were created in 2013, when Kosice was the European Capital of Culture, but every year, SAC puts up fresh murals on Kosice’s walls.

SAC artistic director Viktor Fehar on the tour (Picture: Lucy Mallows)

SAC artistic director Viktor Feher showed us around the fabulous murals on tower block side walls.

There are also the SPOTs project – graffiti artists from around the world were encouraged to paint their ideas on the walls of the heating blocks that sit next to 10-storey apartment buildings.

The SPOTs team got together in 2009 with the idea of shifting culture from the town centre to the outskirts.

SPOTs artwork such as those by Kosice local Radoslav Repicky and French street artist Cart’1 brighten up the suburban housing estates.

SPOTs artwork by Radoslav Repicky (Picture: Lucy Mallows)

We start at Tabacka, the former tobacco factory, now a hip cultural centre with a bar and bistro.

The SAC office is located here.

You can chat with them about the local street art scene and discover where to find the monumental works of art.

At the excellent Pyecka studio, shop & gallery, you can find details of all the graffiti artists, and there’s a map showing where they are located.

Polish creative duo Bezt & Pener brighten up a suburb with the monumental work The Healer.

The Healer (Picture: Lucy Mallows)

Chilean street artist Inti takes his name from the Incan sun god and the Quechua word for ‘the sun’ .

His colossal murals throb with the vivid colours of a Latin American carnival.

Street art by Inti (Picture: Lucy Mallows)

Claudio Ethos was born in 1982 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

His work depicts characters found all over the city and his inspiration is generated from experience, dreams, and memory.

Work by Claudio Ethos (Picture: Lucy Mallows)

My favourite mural in Kosice turned out to be work by Sheffield artist Phlegm, whose intricate, black and white, fairy tale-style murals bring magic to dowdy streets.

Phlegm (Picture: Lucy Mallows)

Martin Kiman aka Reus is a multi-genre artist from Kosice.



Reus takes existing ideas and depicts them from a new point of view.

Reus (Picture: Lucy Mallows)

In a subway, we found a series of paintings by Bologna-based muralist, Erica il Cane.

Taking the theme of greed, the mural depicts a group of bats presenting a giant rat with golden rings.

Known as Chazme & Tone, Poland’s Chazme and Robert ‘Tone’ Proch have created a massive multi-coloured mural in a leafy side street.

Chazme & Tone (Picture: Lucy Mallows)

For ECoC 2013, the biggest project involved converting a complex of late 19th century military barracks into an exciting cultural centre.

Each building in Kasarne-Kulturpark was named after the NATO alphabet (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie etc) and they host interactive and creative venues, such as Steel Park-Creative Factory and the Fashion Lab.

Kasarne-Kulturpark (Picture: Lucy Mallows)

At Rumanova 1, a dried-up swimming pool has been converted into a great, light space, Kunsthalle, for art exhibitions and concerts.

Kunsthalle (Picture: Lucy Mallows)

This architectural 1960s masterpiece, was destroyed in a flood from the River Hornad and languished unoccupied for decades. Now it is an exciting space for exhibitions and concerts.

To get there, you’ll pass the photogenic alley, Hrnciarska ulicka – the name means ‘pottery lane’ – filled with craftsmen’s workshops and little cafes.

Hrnciarska ulicka (Picture: Lucy Mallows)

In a city filled with unusual street art, the wackiest of them all is an art installation, Drevnica, that involved transporting three folk cottages, log by log, from the remote Slovak countryside and reassembling them, perched on top of a 13-story, 1970s concrete housing block, in the sprawling Dargovskych Hrdinov housing estate.

Tomas Dzadon is a Slovak artist with a unique vision.


Born in 1981, in Poprad, northeast Slovakia, Dzadon wanted to place years of history onto the shoulders of residents – literally.

Tomas Dzadon (Picture: Lucy Mallows)

The wooden log cabin, or ‘drevnica’ is a typical sight in the countryside, but that way of life is dying out, as young people prefer to live in the city, even if the concrete apartment blocks are not so photogenic.

Drevnica (Picture: Lucy Mallows)

There’s more information at Visit Kosice

How to get there and where to stay How to get there Direct flights from London Luton, Bristol or Doncaster/Sheffield to Kosice (2hrs 45mins) with Wizzair. One-way flights from £19.99. Where to stay Ambassador: comfortable hotel with a great location right on the promenade, Hlavna ulica. Weekend package £135pp. Where to eat and drink Med Malin: the name means ‘honey raspberry’, so try the superb raspberry lemonade! Serving traditional Slovak and Polish ‘slow food’ style in a granny’s kitchen venue. Smelly Cat: delightful cafe-bar whose name evokes a song warbled by Phoebe in Friends. Live jazz in the evenings. Villa Cassa Wine Bar: superb wine bar, great place to try and buy Tokaji, the ‘wine of kings, king of wines’ (‘vinum regum, rex vinorum’) as Louis XV of France called it when trying to get Madame de Pompadour tipsy.

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