Kosice, the second largest city in Slovakia, is situated in the valley of the Hornad River and Kosicka kotlina (the Kosice Basin), at the foot of the Cierna Hora mountains in the north and the Slovak Ore Mountains and the Volovske Vrchy Hills in the west. From the east, the Kosice Basin is bordered by the Slanske Vrchy Hills. To the southwest near the Hungarian border there are the renowned Slovensky Kras Hills.
Kosice has a warm, rather dry climate typical for hollows; the average January temperature ranges from -2 0C to -4 0C; average July temperature ranges from 18.5 0C to 20 0C; the average annual precipitation is 600-700 mm. The northwestern areas at the foothills of the Slovak Ore Mountains have a temperate mountain climate.
The‚ advantageous position of the city on the crossroads of the old long-distance trade routes was the fundamental factor for the development of this place of habitation on the fertile soil of the river-terrace near the juncture of the Hornad and Torysa Rivers. The area has been settled continuously since the Paleolithic Era; an Aurignacian camp site, the earliest one known to have existed in Central Europe, was excavated at Barca near Kosice.
The presence of a Slavic community having settled here in 8-9th century was confirmed by study of the fortifed settlement site at Breh in the area of Krasna nad Hornadom. Another presumed settlement site of this type is at Hradova, where a castle was built later to control the important crossroads of the trade routes.
At the end of the 11 th century, the building of a Benedidine abbey as a center for the spreading of culture was begun at Krasna nad Hornadom; it was consecrated in 1143. Another fortifed site, the above-mentioned Hradova Castle, was built in the frst half of the 13th century. Several settlements arose along the road in the river valley between these two points, which rnay be considered as the origins of the later town. According to existing data, by 1216 another monastery had already stood on the site of present-day Kosice and the settlement itself was mentioned in 1230. It was situated at the site of Slovenska Street; the frst parish church in the area was built there too. This place of habitation expanded rapidly after the arrival of German colonists; its layout followed the settlement pattern provided by other towns which had already been settled by the native folk. The German immigrants appeared as new inhabitants shortly after the Tartar invasion and they founded their homes next to the existing settlement.
Before 1249 they were granted their first privileges. Owing to them and to the advantageous situation of the settlement, Kosice developed relatively rapidly into a town. The Saxons who settled in Kosice achieved religious self-government very early, and in 1290 they were exempted from the jurisdiction of the archdeacon. Already by that time, the original, one-nave church of St. Elizabeth (1260-1280) stood in the middle of the spindle-shaped square (a typical shape for eastern-Slovakia towns). The town's protecive walls had been partially built by that time, as well as the Royal House and the hospital. The oldest building preserved from that period is the Early-Gothic Dominican church with remnants of the monastery located near the line of the town's western walls. The presence of this religious order testified to the definite urban character of Kosice at that time.
By the end of the 13 century markets were held in the town, which emerged as an important center for the barter of imported goods from Prussia, the towns of the Hansa League in Germany, and Krakow, Poland.
