The Bishop's Palace was built from a former Minorite monastery. Its history began with the conversion of the town hospital and poorhouse into a new monastery, which was acquired by the Minorites in 1673. The activity of the Minorites in Prešov was terminated by the decree of Emperor Joseph II of 12 July 1787, by which the monastery was dissolved, in spite of the pleas of the city magistrate and the Bishop of Jagiellon to the monarch himself.
In 1791, the seat of the Greek-Catholic vicariate was moved from Košice to Prešov to the premises of the former Minorite monastery.On 22 September 1818, Pope Pius VII issued the bull Relata semper, establishing the Greek-Catholic bishopric in Prešov. The entire complex of the former monastery was then assigned to the first bishop of the newly established Prešov diocese, Gregor Tarkovič, in 1821. In 1848, Jozef Gaganec, the second bishop of Prešov, had the residence extensively rebuilt, resulting in the present two-storey palace building with a classical façade. Above the main entrance there was a large triangular shield (tympanum) with the inscription „His Majesty Ferdinand V, King of Hungary, by grace built 1848“, above the inscription there is an embossed coat of arms of the Greek-Catholic bishopric encircled by a bishop's chain and a cross fixed on it. The central part of the building is dominated by a large dome. The palace is currently the seat of the Greek Catholic Archbishopric.
The Greek Catholic Episcopal Palace is part of the Šariš castle roads.
Photo: OOCR Región Šariš, pis.sk, grtkapo.sk, Jozef Kotulič
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