The East Slovak Museum () in Koà ¡ice, Slovakia, is one of the oldest Slovak museums, founded in 1872. It is located in the Old Town borough of Koà ¡ice, at Námestie Maratónu mieru (Peace Marathon Square).
The museum was founded on 25 June 1876 as Felsà Â-Magyarországi Muzeum (Museum of Upper Hungary), in the Kingdom of Hungary. In 1906, it was renamed to Felsà Â-magyarországi Rákóczi Múzeum after the reburial of Francis II Rákóczi.
A neo-Renaissance building was erected in the early 20th century. It was the first building in the city designed to serve its needs as a museum. There are sculptures of Perseus and Vulcan on the facade of the building.
The museum also possesses a relocated wooden church that was built in 1741.
The main museum building is located at Peace Marathon Square in central Koà ¡ice, just outside the Old Town's traditional northern boundary. It serves as the headquarters of the institution, housing several permanent exhibitions. It also features a number of exhibition spaces for temporary exhibitions pertaining to history, archaeology, fine arts, historical photography, biology and nature, and other related topics. Temporary exhibitions in the museum tend to last several weeks or even months.
The current number of permanent exhibitions in the main museum underwent a general overhaul in the early-to-mid 2010s, during the main museum building's biggest maintenance renovation in its history. The renovation lasted from September 2008 to September 2013.
In addition to the main museum building, the museum has further branch exhibits in other parts of the Old Town borough, such as the permanent exhibits on nearby Hviezdoslavova Street, the permanent exhibits on Pri Mikluà ¡ovej väznici and Stará Baà ¡tová streets, the specialised exhibition spaces on HrnÃÂiarska Street, and others.
The following sections provide an overview of the museum's main exhibits, both current and former.
Permanent exhibitions and exhibition spaces currently operated by the museum.
Major exhibitions and exhibition spaces operated by the museum in the past. No longer in existence, administered by different museums in the present or developed into separate museums. Listed in rough chronological order, based on date of founding.
Main building (exterior and interior views)
Wooden church of St. Nicholas from Koà ¾uchovce and wooden belfry from Transcarpathian Ukraine (museum park)
"Experience Gothic" permanent exhibit (art history and material culture)
Archaeological collections
Period furniture collections
Collections from the former art history exhibit 'Centuries in Art' (Hviezdoslavova Street)
Natural history exhibit (Hviezdoslavova Street)
"The Koà ¡ice Centuries" city history permanent exhibit (Mikluà ¡'s Prison interiors)
Fortifications exhibit, Rodoà ¡to memorial house and House of Crafts