The Plague Column () or ''Immaculata'' is a

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

plague column Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), (commonly referred to as bubonic plague or black death), caused by infectious bacteria ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or a ...

(Marian and Holy Trinity column) in

Košice Košice is the largest city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary. With a population of approximately 230,000, Košice is the second-largest cit ...

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

. The column is situated in a small park and commemorates the gratitude to Mary for an end to the plague epidemic from 1709 and 1710. It was erected at the place of medieval

gallows A gallows (or less precisely scaffold) is a frame or elevated beam, typically wooden, from which objects can be suspended or "weighed". Gallows were thus widely used to suspend public weighing scales for large and heavy objects such as sa ...

at Fő utca (''Main Street'', now called Hlavná ulica) in 1723. A plaque on the base claims that the relics of

Saint Valentine Saint Valentine (; ) was a 3rd-century Roman saint, commemorated in Western Christianity on February 14 and in Eastern Orthodoxy on July 6. From the High Middle Ages, his feast day has been associated with a tradition of courtly love. He is al ...

are hidden beneath the structure. It is a

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

on a stone basement with sculptures of

Saint Joseph According to the canonical Gospels, Joseph (; ) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. Joseph is venerated as Saint Joseph in the Catholic Church, Eastern O ...

Saint Sebastian Sebastian (; ) was an early Christianity, Christian saint and martyr. According to traditional belief, he was killed during the Diocletianic Persecution of Christians. He was initially tied to a post or tree and shot with arrows, though this d ...

and Saint Ladislaus. There is a sculpture of the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

on the top of the column. The sculptures of Saint Gabriel,

Saint Elizabeth of Hungary Elizabeth of Hungary (, , ; 7 July 120717 November 1231), also known as Elisabeth of Thuringia, was a princess of the Kingdom of Hungary and the landgravine of Thuringia. Elizabeth was married at the age of 14, and widowed at 20. After her hus ...

, Saint Margaret,

Saint Michael the Archangel Michael, also called Saint Michael the Archangel, Archangel Michael and Saint Michael the Taxiarch is an archangel and the warrior of God in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The earliest surviving mentions of his name are in third- and second- ...

and

Saint Barbara Saint Barbara (; ; ; ), known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara, was an Early Christianity, early Christian Greek saint and martyr. There is no reference to her in the authentic early Christian writings nor in the origin ...

are on the pillars of the fence. The statue was damaged during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, but it was restored by academic sculptor Vojtech Löffler in the years 1949-1951 and 1971–1972. The last restoration, done by Ľubomír Kus, took place in 1996–1998.

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External links

Buildings and structures completed in 1723 Marian and Holy Trinity columns Buildings and structures in Košice Monumental columns Second plague pandemic 1723 sculptures Statues of the Virgin Mary Tourist attractions in Košice Sculptures of Saint Joseph Sculptures of angels {{Slovakia-struct-stub

See also

References

External links