The Spiš Chamber Palace Audio guide

The Spiš Chamber Palace in Kosice

The Spiš Chamber Palace stands at 68 Main Street and is one of the notable townhouses in the historic heart of Kosice. Originally a burgher house, it later took on an administrative role when the directorate of the Spiš Chamber was established here. Institutions of this kind were important to the region’s economic life, as they managed estates, revenues, and the administration connected with both lordly domains and the urban environment.

In 1934, a decision was made to demolish most of the building and construct a new headquarters for the financial directorate. The project was designed by the Czech architect Rudolf Brebta, who was then working in Kosice. One interesting solution was the preservation of a fragment of the original building, which was incorporated into the new palace on the northern edge of the plot. The site’s present form thus reflects the encounter between the older urban fabric and the modernization efforts of the First Czechoslovak Republic.

The best-known event connected with this place came on 24 September 1935, when the Kosice Gold Treasure was discovered in the foundations of the demolished building. It consists of 2,920 gold coins, three gold medals, and a Renaissance chain weighing 590 grams. The treasure was probably hidden in the seventeenth century, during the Kuruc uprisings, when the city faced uncertainty and its inhabitants protected their property from the upheavals of war.

Today, the palace forms part of Kosice’s civic memory not only as an administrative building, but also as the site of one of the most important archaeological discoveries in Slovakia.