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Urban's tower and Urban bell

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It was created by the renaissance reconstruction of the original Gothic tower (called the "Red Tower"), which was completed in 1628 by the Prešov builder Martin Linder.

Urban's tower and Urban bell

It was created by the renaissance reconstruction of the original Gothic tower (called the "Red Tower"), which was completed in 1628 by the Prešov builder Martin Linder.

A marble slab mounted above the entrance to the bell tower is attached to these construction works. The original Gothic tower was built at the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries as a bell tower at the time of the Cathedral of St. Elizabeth. In the bell tower in 1628 was placed the bell of St. Urban, which was cast in 1557 by František Illenfeld, a bell ringer from Olomouc. After the great fire in Košice, the so-called "Red" tower was also destroyed by fire, so the bell was temporarily stored at the town hall. The bell tower was not repaired until 1628.
This bell was a unique work of bell-making art due to its dimensions. The people of Košice consecrated the main bell of their town, quite understandably St. Urban - the patron saint of winegrowers, because once thanks to the wine trade, they achieved considerable economic development of the city in previous centuries.
In December 1966, he fell victim to a fire that broke out in the bell tower. The fire started from the transformer station in the tower, the supporting beams burned down and the bell collapsed into burning debris.
During the extinguishing of the fire, the bell was torn by thermal stress in contact with water.

The wreckage of the bell lay in the East Slovak Museum for more than twenty years. The destroyed bell was reconstructed and erected in the area in front of the tower and the Dome of St. Alžbety only in 1989. The bell was restored by Mr. Jiři Svoboda from the family company of the Dytrich family bell-riders. A functional copy of Urban's bell was cast as a gift by the city of Košice by the masters of Východoslovenské železiarní in 1996, when it was hung again in Urban's Tower. An arcade corridor was erected along the perimeter of the Urban Tower in 1911-1912, 1943-1944 and in 1947, and other tombstones from the medieval cemetery were placed in the outer walls of the tower, which, according to medieval customs, spread around the parish church.

The set of 36 tombstones from the first half of the 14th century to the second half of the 17th century deserves special attention, not only because of its historical significance and the fact that together with the collection of St. Michael's Chapel they form a comprehensive set with stylistic periods from late Gothic to early Baroque, but also works presenting the level of medieval stonemasonry. Between 1967 and 1971, the tower was repaired and restored to its second renaissance phase. In the interiors of the tower, a steel structure of eight floors was created (originally their tower had only four).

In the years 1977-1994, the East Slovak Museum established an exposition of artistic metalworking and bell-making. At the end of the 1970s, they installed acoustic equipment here, which at the designated hours imitated a carillon playing various folk and building songs. Together with the Dome of St. Elizabeth and the Chapel of St. Michael, the Urban Tower was declared a national cultural monument in 1970. At present, the Košice self-governing region and the East Slovak Museum in Košice will maintain an exhibition of wax figures in the tower.

In the museum of wax figures you will find personalities who are connected with the history of Košice:
Evliya Čelebi, Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia, Hungarian Simplicissimus, Master Štefan (Stephen Lapicidus, Stephan Steynmentz), Sigismund of Luxembourg with Herald (1368-1437), Matej Korvín (1443-1490), Pilgrim, Janko Borodáč (1892-1964), Abebeik (1932-1973), Andy Warhol (1928-1987), František Rákoczi II (1676-1735), Štefan B. Roman (1921-1988), Jonáš Záborský (1812-1876), Ján Bocatius (1569-1621), Július Jakoby (1903-1984), Ondrej Szabó, Janka Guzová-Becková (1917-1993), Gabriel Bethlen and Katarína Brandeburská (1580-1629)

Additional information

Places for trip Memorial houses Area Abov
Transport: By foot, By bike, By car, By train, By bus
Parking: Free parking nearby

Accepted payments: Cash
Languages: Slovak

Suitable for: Childrens, Families with childrens, Elderly, Handicapped, Cyclists, Young, Adults
Season: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter
Updated on: 17.3.2020
Source: Turistický portál Košického kraja

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Gallery 7

    Contact

    Phone: +421 55 62 32 534
    Urban's tower and Urban bell
    Urbanova veža
    Hlavná
    040 01  Košice-Staré Mesto
    Region: Košický
    District: Košice I
    Area: Abov
     48.720671, 21.258148

    Urbanova veža
    Hlavná
    040 01  Košice-Staré Mesto

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