Macák Pottery on Košice’s Craft Lane: ceramics and courses

A potter from the Modra school

Hrnčiarska Street in Košice old town is known as the "Craft Lane" (Ulička remesiel): craftspeople work in small houses below the walls of the former town fortifications. One of the workshops is the family-run Macák Pottery (Hrnčiarstvo Macák). Igor Macák learned his trade at Slovak Folk Majolica in Modra — one of the country’s best-known ceramic schools — and set up on his own in 1992. Since then, as he puts it, the potter’s wheel, clay and his own hands have made his living. The workshop has been on Hrnčiarska Street since 2002, run together with his wife.

His first products were small vases and flowerpots; today the range is much wider. For traditional clay vessels — jugs (krčahy) and milk jugs — he takes inspiration from the master potters of Gemer. The couple developed their own style of decoration: plant motifs, the universal fish motif and the vine, and recently they revived the tulip, a much-loved ornament of folk art. The Macáks’ work carries the Košice Region regional brand and the ÚĽUV mark.

Why go

• Buy from the maker. Mugs, bowls, plates, jugs, figurines and reliefs — every piece is handmade and unique. The workshop also takes commissions, including prizes for competitions.
• A pottery course. Igor Macák runs pottery courses for those interested — arrange the details by phone or e-mail.
• A stroll along Craft Lane. The workshop is part of a short lane with other craftspeople, so a visit fits easily into a walk round the old town.

What to buy

Most typical of this workshop are pieces with fish and vine motifs and the new "tulip" decoration; traditional jugs and milk jugs after Gemer models; and gift ceramics with plant ornament. The potter also takes his work to craft fairs and markets.

What the workshop gallery shows

The gallery on the pottery’s website shows its range well. There are clay flasks and cups with carved ornament, terracotta bowls and cups in warm tones, white openwork fruit bowls with cut-out tulips, green-glazed bottles and goblets with bunches of grapes, mugs with fish and cats, wall reliefs shaped like fish and frogs, and angels and little bells — an echo of the sacral motifs that, according to the regional-brand description, inspire the potter. Every piece is thrown on the wheel or modelled by hand, so even jugs that look alike at first glance differ. Igor Macák himself writes that his work holds "hours, days and years of concentrated work", the search for the right techniques and the ripening of skill — together with his experience, thoughts and dreams.

Practical information

Address: Hrnčiarska 19, 040 01 Košice — in the old town, a few minutes’ walk from Hlavná Street and St Elisabeth’s Cathedral. Hours (as of October 2026): Monday–Friday 10:00–18:00, Saturday 9:00–13:00. Courses: +421 904 322 016, [email protected]. Course prices are not published on the website. The same contacts can be used to commission a piece — for example ceramics with your own motif or prizes for a competition.

Nearby

• ÚĽUV Craft Centre — folk-craft courses and shop on Mäsiarska Street, a few minutes’ walk.
• Modra Majolica, where the potter trained — Slovakia’s famous ceramics (in the west of the country).
• Háj Pottery — black smoke-fired ware and a field kiln, about 35 km.

Official website: hrnciarstvomacaks.com

Photos: hrnciarstvomacaks.com.