Hungary

Draped across two hills by the River Danube, the royal city of Esztergom is the place where St Stephen, the first King of Hungary was crowned at the start of the 11th century.

The city is also the seat of the Archdiocese of Esztergom-Budapest and in keeping with its dignified status, Esztergom’s Neoclassical basilica is both the largest church and the tallest building in the country.

Esztergom castle is a thrilling melange of architecture Medieval and Renaissance architecture, a lot of which had been lost for hundreds of years until archaeological digs began in the 20th century.

From the castle’s Ottoman roundels you can see into Slovakia, which is literally on the other side of the Danube, while Budapest is a scenic 50-kilometre drive through the Duna-Ipoly National Park.

Let’s explore the best things to do in Esztergom:

1. Esztergom Basilica

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Esztergom Basilica

The seat of Hungary’s Catholic Church is a dumbfounding Neoclassical monument that also blends hints of Ancient Egyptian architecture in a cavernous crypt.

Esztergom Basilica isn’t just the largest church in Hungary; it is also the tallest building of any kind in the country, with an epic dome that tops out at 118 metres.

Another record-breaker in the chancel is the altarpiece, painted by the Italian Girolamo Michelangelo Grigoletti.

At 13.5 x 6.6 metres it’s the largest painting on a single piece of canvas in the world.

The building was started in 1822 and completed in 1869, and is on a site of national significance to Hungary.

The nation’s first cathedral was founded here at the start of the 11th century by King Stephen I, who is also believed to have been crowned at this spot around the year 1000. Adjoining with the Basilica is the 16th-century Bakócz Chapel, shaped from red marble and considered the greatest piece of Hungarian Renaissance art.

2. Castle Museum

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Esztergom Castle Museum

In the same ensemble, Esztergom Castle was built in the early 1070s by Géza I of Hungary on the remains of a Roman Castrum.

What’s left now are bastions, roundels and defensive walls on the very edge of cliffs rising above the Danube.

The castle has a medley of styles from Romanesque through Gothic and Renaissance to Ottoman.

Whole wings of the building were ruined and covered over during the Turkish Wars, and excavations have take place almost continuously since the 1930s.

Inside a small labyrinth of alleys, passageways, arches and gates you can call in at the Castle museum, documenting the history of the building and Esztergom.

The palace chapel is a must-see, embellished with frescoes from the 1100s to the 1300s, and one of the rooms of the palace has an enchanting cycle of Hungarian Renaissance paintings that have only just been restored.

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hotels in Esztergom, Hungary

3. Víziváros (Watertown)

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Víziváros, Esztergom

On the right bank of the Danube under the castle walls, Víziváros is an episcopal neighbourhood set up in the 13th century by the archbishop Matthias Rátót.

The area was transformed by the Ottomans who built Turkish baths and mosques.

On Berényi Zsigmond Utca the Öziçeli Hacci Ibrahim Mosque is the oldest Ottoman-era mosque still standing on the banks of the Danube.

Later, refined Baroque and Neoclassical mansions began to crop up.

One, the Primate’s Palace, houses the Museum of Christian Art, which follows below.

That palace dominates the Erzsébet Park, where a piece of the old wall still has a stone with an Arabic inscription celebrating Suleiman the Magnificent’s capture of the city in 1543. Along the Danube you can look back for an unbroken view of the castle bastions, walls and roundels on their rocky pedestal.

4. Museum of Christian Art

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Museum Of Christian Art

On the upper floor of the Primate’s Palace in Víziváros, the Museum of Christian Art was founded in the 19th century by Archbishop János Simor and abound with liturgical paintings, sculpture and decorative arts from the 1200s to the 1800s.

There’s a wealth of Hungarian, Austrian and German Gothic painting from the 15th and 16th centuries, one of the most celebrated being the Calvary Altarpiece by Master Thomas of Coloswar.

You can also pore over Dutch, Italian Renaissance art, and later Baroque Hungarian, Austrian and German paintings.

The museum has an extensive collection of tapestries going back to the 1400s, as well as ceramic art, ivory, goldsmithery, clocks, tabernacles, stained glass and medieval oriental carpets.

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5. Széchényi Square

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Széchényi Square

Esztergom’s central plaza was the scene of the Medieval marketplace and is walled by Baroque, Rococo and Neoclassical buildings.

The square is almost 10,000 square metres and around half of the monuments around it are listed.

After Esztergom was liberated in 1683, Széchényi Square was the first place to be repopulated and its houses were occupied by the city’s richest merchants.

The highlight is the Town Hall, on the south side, which had previously been the residence for János Bottyán.

He was a key figure in Hungary’s war against the Ottomans, and then in the struggle for independence from the Habsburgs at the start of the 18th century.

The building has been the Town Hall since 1723, making it the oldest in Hungary.

In the centre is the Holy Trinity statue, fashioned from white limestone György Kiss in 1900.

6. Cathedral Library

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Cathedral Library

Also known as Biblioteca, the Cathedral Library is at the southern end of Víziváros.

This is the oldest and richest public library in Hungary, founded in 1853 and boasting more than 170,000 volumes.

The building is also striking, with early Eclectic architecture and with a statue of St Jerome above its cornice.

Among the many valuable books and manuscripts on its shelves are the Jordánszky-Kódex, a Hungarian translation of the bible from 1516-19, the Filipecz Kódex from 1470 and the 11th-century Tractatus.

The Cathedral Library is open all day Wednesday, as well as Tuesday and Thursday mornings.

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7. Szent István Tér (St Stephen’s Square)

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Szent István Tér

This monumental square atop Castle Hill extends east from the basilica and is bordered by resplendent historical architecture.

The properties around the square belonged to the clergy, and include the Old Seminary and Auxiliary Episcopal Palace, which sits across from the basilica on eastern flank.

North of the basilica, and on the northwest corner of the square is a sculpture of St.

Stephen at the top of one of the castle’s roundels, overlooking the Danube.

Representing Stephen I’s coronation that supposedly took place nearby at the start of the 11th century, this work is 12 metres high and was carved by Miklós Melocco.

8. Duna Múzeum (Danube Museum)

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Duna Múzeum

In a Baroque former administrative building from 1730, the Duna Múzeum is a family-oriented attraction all about water.

The museum came through a three-year restoration in the 2000s and quickly garnered a variety of awards and was recognised by the European Museum Forum.

The galleries are packed with moving models, multimedia and interactive games all relaying information about different aspects of water and the Danube.

Some of the spheres to explore are water’s physical and chemical properties, the water cycle, floods and flood protection, the history of water supply, sewerage and the history of Hungarian cartography.

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9. Balassa Bálint Museum

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Balassa Bálint Museum

In Víziváros, the headquarters of the Balassa Bálint Museum are set in a Baroque mansion that became the Esztergom’s first county hall after the town was liberated from the Ottomans.

The museum is a regional institution operating a few attractions like the home of the poet Babits Mihály, which we’ll talk about later.

The main branch in Víziváros has revolving exhibitions about the history of Esztergom and its wider county, with archaeology, art, ethnography 19th and 20th century photography and numismatic exhibits.

Some pieces to seek out are fragments from the portal of the 11th-century St Adalbert Cathedral and some stonework from the excavated Bakócz Chapel.

10. Szenttamás

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Szenttamás, Esztergom

On its eponymous hill, the eastern portion of Esztergom is named “St Thomas” and until 1895 was a separate village.

The first sight to see in Szenttamás is the hilltop calvary, mostly Baroque in style but made up of stations and sculptures from different periods.

Partnered by a Neoclassical chapel, the ensemble was built to remember people who gave their lives defending Eger.

At the foot of the hill are the ruins of the Fürdő Szálló, a hotel attached to a bathing complex, where the Hungarian commander Lajos Kossuth stayed in 1848 while drumming up support for the War of Independence.

Also lower down the hill are Esztergom’s synagogue and the Baroque Chapel of St Stephen.

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hotels in Esztergom, Hungary

11. Dark Gate

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Dark Gate

Dug in 1824, around the same time that Esztergom’s basilica was started, the Dark Gate is tunnel built to link the seminary with the canonical houses.

The passageway is 90 metres long and has a Neoclassical style, with a barrel vault.

It was totally renovated in 2006 and contrary to its name is now brightly illuminated.

The Dark Gate opens onto the archdiocese’s wine cellar, and you can use the tunnel to get from the Seminary to the centre of Esztergom.

In the 1956 Revolution a bus heading to the Seminary, then a Russian military base, was attacked by a T-34 tank, causing 14 deaths.

There’s a plaque commemorating the event at the tunnel entrance.

12. Babits Mihály Emlékház

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Babits Museum, Esztergom

One of Hungary’s most celebrated cultural figures moved to Esztergom in 1924. Babits Mihály used the money from a Dante translation to buy this house on the east side of the city, and made repeated of extensions right up until he passed away in 1943. The interiors were painted by Einzinger Ferenc, a friend of Mihály.

On the south side of the property is the glass veranda where Mihály composed many of his most famous poems.

In his study you’ll find his typewriter and death mask, while there’s a wall where many of the leading lights of mid 20th-century left their autographs.

Among the many illustrious names are the poets Dezső Kosztolányi, Lőrinc Szabó, novelist Zsigmond Móricz and the pioneering Modernist painter Ödön Márffy.

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13. Duna-Ipoly National Park

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Duna-Ipoly National Park

There’s unadulterated nature north and east of Esztergom at the Duna-Ipoly National Park, maybe the most biodiverse natural environment in Hungary.

The park encompasses over 60,000 hectares on both sides of the Danube.

Certain plant species, like the fragrant leek and lenten rose, can only be found in this park.

A good first step if you want to get acquainted with this nature is the Eco-Tourism Centre at Esztergom-Kertváros on the western limits of the park and hardly ten kilometres from the centre of Esztergom.

The Pilis Hills on the way own to Budapest are limestone formation that are perforated with more than 330 caves.

If this piques your sense of adventure in you the Benedek Elek Caving Club provides tours.

14. Prédikálószék

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Prédikálószék

Above the apex of a scenic loop in the Danube, Prédikálószék (Pulpit Rock) is a 639-metre mountain in the Dunazug Range, part of the Duna-Ipoly National Park.

The peak is only 25 kilometres from the centre of Esztergom and the road to the mountain hugs the right bank of the river.

In 2016 a 12-metre wooden lookout tower was placed at the summit, commanding very picturesque views of the u-shaped meander in the Danube and the Börzsöny Mountains behind.

You can also step to the edge of the cliff for a more dramatic photo and bring a picnic to the tables below the tower.

15. Rám-Szakadék

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Rám-Szakadék Waterfall

Moments from Prédikálószék is a kilometre-long canyon with volcanic origins.

This gash in the landscape extends from Dobogókő deep in the national park and Dömös close to the right bank of the Danube.

In places Rám-Szakadék is 35 metres deep, and you can shuffle along ledges using handrails, and waterfalls have rickety-looking ladders to climb.

Due to erosion and shifting soils the canyon’s course changes by the year and as the catchment area is small flash floods aren’t uncommon, so it’s best to come when there’s been sustained dry weather in summer.

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15 Best Things to Do in Esztergom (Hungary) .

A regal city in Northern Hungary, Eger stands out for its thermal waters and opulent Baroque mansions and churches.

This architecture dates to the city’s revival in the 18th century after it was liberated from the Ottoman Empire, which had been in charge throughout the 1600s.

In the 1700s Eger’s bishop Eszterházy Károly established the city as a centre of higher learning and founded the Lyceum, now a university, with a library stacked with invaluable books and manuscripts.

The Lyceum belongs in that catalogue of Baroque wonders in the city, while Eger’s other trademark is its strong red wine, Egri Bikavér.

The story goes that this robust wine was laced with bull’s blood and helped a small defending force defeat more than 30,000 Ottoman invaders in 1552.

Let’s explore the best things to do in Eger:

1. Eger Castle

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Eger Castle

Ruling over Eger from a hill east of the Eger Stream, Eger Castle has stood in some form since the Mongol invasion of the 13th century.

In the 15th century a Gothic palace was constructed for Eger’s bishops and a defining moment came a century later in 1552 when the castle repelled an enormous Ottoman army.

The site has a complicated and enthralling history, and the different buildings in the complex house museums.

The Gothic Palace details the history of the castle and the famous siege of 1552, while the Dobó Bastion has an exhibition of weapons.

You can go on a guided tour of the defensive casemates beneath the castle, browse a minting museum with historic coins and peruse the art gallery with works by prominent Hungarian painters like the Realist Mihály Munkácsy.

2. Lyceum

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Lyceum, Eger

Founded by the Bishop Eszterházy Károly, the main university building was designed by József Gerl and Jakab Fellner and built between 1765 and 1785. The Lyceum is held as a masterpiece of the understated Zopf Baroque style and is renowned for its three stunning ceiling frescoes.

The only one visible to everyday visitors is in the library and was painted by the Austrian Johann Lukas Kracker in 1778, depicting the Council of Trent which spearheaded the Counter-Reformation in the 1500s.

The library has more than 130,000 rare books, Medieval manuscripts and incunabula on its fine oak shelving.

One intriguing curio is the only letter written by Mozart on Hungarian soil.

The Lyceum’s observatory is also worthwhile, and has a 53-metre tower containing a small astronomical museum and a camera obscura.

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3. Town Under the Town

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Town Under The Town

After Eger was retaken from the Ottomans at the end of the 17th century the bishop György Fenessy went about building himself a new palace.

The stone for this residence was quarried from the city’s tufa stone, and before long a four-kilometre network of tunnels had been burrowed beneath Eger.

These galleries were used for storing wine from the 1700s up to the Second World War.

There was no shortage of wine to fill this space as in Eger people could pay their tithe (taxes to the church) with wine instead of money.

There are multilingual tours of these cool tunnels all year round, starting on the hour.

Look out for the Escher-esque pillared room, at the confusing nexus point in the cellar system where 14 galleries intersect.

4. Minaret

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Minaret

The Ottomans had control of Eger from 1596 to 1687, and during this period they built ten minarets in the city, of which only one survives today.

This 40-metre red sandstone tower stands by the Church of St Sebastian, the site of a former mosque, and dates to the beginning of the 17th century.

It is one of only three surviving minarets from the Ottoman period and is the northernmost Turkish minaret in Europe.

From far off the minaret looks circular, but when you get up close you’ll see that it actually has 14 flat sides.

There are 97 steps to the balcony for a bird’s eye view of the city if you don’t mind braving the extremely tight spiral staircase.

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5. Valley of the Beautiful Woman

Source: Wojciech Tchorzewski

Valley Of The Beautiful Woman

The local wine in Eger is bold Egri Bikavér (Bull’s Blood). This name is believed to come from the Ottoman siege in 1552 when the Turks believed that the strength of the town’s defenders came from mixing bull’s blood with their wine.

Although the quality can vary from grower to grower, Egri Bikavér is consistently robust and goes well with red meat and spicy food.

It is normally composed of a blend of grapes including, but not limited to, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Blaufränkisch and Syrah.

Now, the place to go wine-tasting in Eger is the Valley of the Beautiful Woman, a 15-minute walk from the centre of the town and hosting more than 40 wine cellars side by side.

These can be fancy, serving gourmet food and first-rate wine, or very rough-and-ready.

Head here during the harvest in autumn and many of the establishments serve fresh grape juice.

6. Dobó Square

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Dobó Square

Eger’s sumptuous main plaza is named for István Dobó, the captain who led the defence of the city against the Ottomans in 1552. There’s an homage to Dobó and this battle in the form of a dramatic bronze sculpture cast by Zsigmond Kisfaludi Stróbl in 1968. Another imposing work, by Alajos Stróbl from 1907, shows István Dobó with his sword aloft.

The outstanding monument on the square is the Minorite Church, built according to a design by the Bohemian architect Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer.

We’ll talk about the church a little later, but if you come by at 11:00, 15:00 or 18:00 you’ll hear the carillon chime.

Complementing the church to the right is the town hall (Városháza), built in the Eclectic style at the end of the 19th century.

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7. Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Apostle

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Cathedral Basilica Of St. John The Apostle

Standing opposite the Lyceum, Eger Basilica is the only Neoclassical monument in the city and is Hungary’s third-largest cathedral.

It was raised between 1831 and 1837 during the bishopric of János László Pyrker.

Built to inspire awe, the cathedral’s eastern main portal is approached from the Lyceum via three sets of stairways and has a temple-like portico with eight Corinthian columns.

Above the pediment are statues of the saints Peter, Paul, Stephen and Ladislaus sculpted by the Italian Marco Casagrande.

Inside, what grabs you is the magnitude of the cathedral and its three soaring frescoed domes.

The first two in the nave are most impressive, and were painted by 20th-century artist Takács István, depicting the ties between the See of Rome and Eger, and the Revelation of St John respectively.

Both works are interwoven with Hungarian folk art motifs.

8. Minorite Church

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Minorite Church

On the east side of Dobó Square, the splendid Minorite Church was built for a branch of the Franciscan order between 1758 and 1771. A fun piece of trivia about this exuberant monument is that the Father Superior got in trouble when the church was completed as it was deemed too lavish for the normally austere Franciscans.

It is the only Baroque church in Hungary with a curved facade and has two 57-metre towers capped with wrought iron crosses.

You can also make out the coat of arms of the Franciscan order.

The glorious frescoes on the ceiling were painted by the Bratislavan artist Márton Reindl in 1769-70, while there are seven theatrical Baroque monuments to be wowed by.

The most imposing is the main altar, with marble columns and sculptures of St Bonaventure and St Ludwig flanking a painting of the Education of Mary in the Temple also by the Austrian Johann Lucas Kracker.

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9. Szent Miklós-templom

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Szent Miklós-templom

Eger received an influx of Serbian and Greek refugees in the 17th century, fleeing the advance of the Ottoman Empire.

They settled in the northern part of the city and were initially allowed by the bishopric to worship in a former Augustine church.

Later, in the 18th century the wealth members of the Serbian and Greek community were given permission to build a new Orthodox church on the proviso that it was outside the city walls.

The magnificent late-Baroque St Nicholas’ Church has a striking portal carved by the Italian mason Giovanni Adami.

The best bit is the glorious iconostasis, with 60 panels of icons that were painted from 1789 to 1791. Just in front of the iconostasis to the left is an Rococo pulpit with marble effect and gilding.

A curious fact about this fitting is that it was never actually used for services.

10. Small Provost’s Palace

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Provost Palace

On Kossuth Lajos Utca, this refined monument is considered the best expression of Baroque architecture in Eger.

The Small Provost’s Palace was completed in 1758 for the provost count Ignác Batthyány.

In 1849, during the Hungarian War of Independence the palace was where the commanders of the Hungarian army convened before the decisive Battle of Kápolna.

The palace’s has a fine stuccoed facade that stands out for the dainty wrought iron window grates and balcony produced at the prestigious ironworks of Henrik Fazola.

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11. Archbishop’s Garden

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Archbishop’s Garden

Spreading out over 12 hectares on the east bank of the Eger Stream is the city’s main public park.

For centuries this was an episcopal property, used as a hunting ground from the 1200s, and only opened to the public in 1919. In the 18th century the space was turned into a formal garden under Erdődy Gábor Antal and during the bishopric of Eszterházy Károly in the second half of the 18th century the space was walled off.

On the north and west sides you can still see the ornamental iron gates designed by Henrik Fazola.

The park has a man-made lake crossed by an 18th-century stone bridge and is laid out in the French formal style of the 1700s.

Classical concerts are given at the bandstand next Klapka Utca in summer.

12. Eger Thermal Bath

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Eger Thermal Bath

On Eger’s outskirts is a top-notch outdoor water attraction, appealing to grown-ups who want to bathe in Eger’s therapeutic waters as well as kids out for fun.

There are seven pools in total, counting three therapeutic pools with safe amounts of naturally-occurring radon in the water, and a warm thermal pool with slightly sulphurous water at 37°C. You can head for the main swimming pool if you want to get some laps in, or just float around in the “entertainment pool”, which is partly covered with a dome.

Kids on the other hand can run wild in their own pool, which has an imaginative castle with waterfalls and slides.

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13. Egri Road Beatles Múzeum

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Egri Road Beatles Múzeum

Coming to northern Hungary you may not have counted on visiting a museum to the Fab Four.

But that’s just what awaits you at the Hotel Korona, where two lifelong Beatles fanatics, Gábor Molnár and Gábor Peterdi, have put their collections on display.

These have been assembled over decades and include playable reproductions of the band’s favoured instruments, posters, clothing, toys, limited edition records and newspaper cuttings.

The museum has a timeline for the band, from Quarrymen to breakup, and an interactive area where you can see a movie and listen the Beatles recordings through headphones.

14. Bükk National Park

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Bükk National Park

Eger is 10 kilometres from the southwestern edge of Hungary’s largest national park.

Mountainous and coated with large tracts of beech and oak woodland, the Bükk National Park is famed for its karst rock formations in the shape of caves (the longest and deepest in the country can be found here), ravines and sinkholes.

The park’s caves were inhabited for tens of thousands of years, and Neanderthal tools and bone remains have been found in many.

For days out you could ride the narrow gauge Lillafüred Forest Train, see the cascades at Szilvasvárad, browse the outdoor folk museum at Hollókő or hike in Nagy-Mező (Great Meadow), bright with wildflowers in early summer.

15. Kopcsik Marcipánia

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Kopcsik Marcipánia

The master confectioner Lajos Kopcsik has won just about every prize possible during his illustrious 60-year career.

One of his crowning achievements is a museum where almost everything you see is made of marzipan and painted with tempera.

This could be an opulent Baroque salon with marzipan carpet, wallpaper, stucco, paintings, furniture and other ornaments, all composed over three years.

There are also nods to Eger’s culture, like a marzipan reproduction of its famous minaret and a wine bottle two metres high.

Kopcsik is still going strong, and his most recent creations are an enormous still life and the “dream of butterflies”, with 62 individual marzipan butterflies.

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15 Best Things to Do in Eger (Hungary) .

At the junction of three rivers in northwest Hungary’s Western Transdanubia region, Győr is a city with a whole raft of Baroque architecture.

The centre of attention is the Káptalan Hill at the confluence of the Danube, Rába and Rábca, where landmarks like the episcopal castle and cathedral basilica have been raised and then demolished by invading armies since Medieval times.

Those two monuments today are Győr’s headline attractions, with Baroque design, and traces of far older architecture on the castle’s lower levels.

On the cycle-friendly squares and streets around the hill are Italianate churches and yellow-toned houses, many with museums worth a visit.

Let’s explore the best things to do in Győr:

1. Győr Old Town

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Gyor Old Town

After Budapest and Sopron, Győr is the third richest city in Hungary for historic monuments.

Most of the Old Town’s streets are on straight lines in an irregular grid system that drops you at stately squares like Bécsi Kapu Tér (Viennese Gate) and Széchenyi Tér.

The architecture is Baroque and Neoclassical, mostly from the 18th and 19th century, with regal stucco facades painted in light yellow and pastel tones.

The oldest, most tangled and most compact quarter of Győr is the Káptalan Hill, the cobblestone episcopal district at the confluence of the Rába, Rábca and Danube.

Here you’ll stumble upon the cathedral and the Püspökvár (bishops’ palace), easy to pick out for its flat-topped tower.

2. Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady

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Cathedral Basilica Of The Assumption Of Our Lady

The radiant Baroque church on Káptalan Hill has had a tempestuous history since it was consecrated at the start of the 11th century by King Stephen I. That initial Romanesque monument was flattened by the Mongols in 1241, and its replacement had to be completely rebuilt from the 1630s after the city’s brief Ottoman occupation.

The man responsible for the design was the Italian Giovanni Battista Rava, and work would continue through to the 1770s.

The image of the Virgin Mary on the altar at the north side of the nave is one of Hungary’s most venerated pilgrimage sites.

The altars were carved in Vienna, and preeminent painters like Franz Anton Maulbertsch and his students were hired for their altarpieces and the dazzling frescoes on the barrel vault.

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3. St Ignatius of Loyola Benedictine Church

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St Ignatius Of Loyola Benedictine Church

Flanked by a connected grammar school and monastery building on Széchenyi Tér, this Italian-designed church is the earliest example of Baroque religious architecture in Hungary.

Now Benedictine, the church and its adjacent monastery were founded by the Jesuits and built between 1634 and 1641. People with an eye for Baroque architecture may be able to tell that the design is based on Rome’s Church of the Gesù, which was the prototype for Jesuit churches across the world.

There’s an inscription on the lintel confirming the date of the church’s dedication in 1641. The interior decoration is from the 18th century, with solemn trompe-l’œil ceiling frescoes that were painted by the Viennese Rococo master Paul Troger.

He also produced the altarpiece, The Glorification of St Ignatius of Loyola (founder of the Jesuits), framed by marble columns and profuse gold leaf.

4. Püspökvár (Episcopal Castle and Palace)

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Püspökvár

At the crest of the Káptalan Hill sits the fortified residence of Győr’s bishops, which has a mixture of Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque architecture.

At the core of the complex is the sturdy keep, with Gothic elements on its lower levels , built in the wake of the Mongol invasion in the 13th century, and a Baroque pediment and balustrade at the top.

Dating to the 15th century, the chapel connecting with east wall of the keep is a peculiar multi-level building.

A little earlier is the “runaway corridor” from the 1300s, linking to a fabulous hall with groin vaults.

The palace and castle were last restored in 1984 and there are hourly guided tours on the hour, Tuesday to Sunday.

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5. Városháza (Town Hall)

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Town Hall, Gyor

At Győr’s busiest spot, the Town Hall is on the intersection between the east-west Szent István út and the north-south Baross út.

This monument is an instantly recognisable sight in Hungary, and has a neo-Baroque design conceived by the architect Hübner Jenő in the 1890s.

The building has more than 200 rooms, measures 85 metres long and the central tower is 59 metres above the little formal gardens in the square.

On the facade you can make out Győr’s coat of arms, and if you poke your head inside the lobby has life-sized Carrara marble sculptures of the 13th-century King Stephen V who granted town privileges to Győr, and the esteemed 19th-century local businessman József Bisinger.

6. Bécsi Kapu Tér (Vienna Gate Square)

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Vienna Gate Square

Just south of Káptalan Hill this narrow plaza is lauded as one of Hungary’s most beautiful Baroque squares.

The west side of the square opens onto the Rába River where the mighty Renaissance Vienna Gate used to stand.

On the riverfront you there’s a section of the 16th-century ramparts which were mostly pulled down in the 19th century to help the city grow.

The main monument here is the Carmelite Church, which we’ll bring up below, but beside this is a tiny chapel holding an exquisite Baroque image of the Virgin Mary from 1717 by the Italian sculptor Giovanni Giuliani.

Just to the east of the Carmelite Church is the Altabak-ház, dating to 1620, built for canons, with delightful bay windows and a hefty wooden gate concealing a courtyard and loggia.

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7. Kármelita Templom (Carmelite Church)

Source: Cynthia Liang

Carmelite Church, Gyor

The sight that gets the most attention on Bécsi Kapu Tér is the yellow-painted Carmelite Church at the southern end, unmistakeable for its single onion-domed tower.

The Carmelites came to Győr at the end of the 17th century and this Italianate church was raised in the first half of the 1720s.

On the facade, which has the characteristic Baroque volutes and pilasters there’s a image of the Virgin Mary in pediment by another Italian sculptor, Diego Carlone.

On niches on either side of the portal are statues of the famous Carmelites, Teresa of Ávila and John of the Cross.

The most valuable works inside are the altar and side altars, designed in the 1720s by the Carmelite monk Ferenc Richter.

The side altars are remarkable for their altarpieces by the Naples-born painter Martino Altomonte.

8. Diocesan Treasury, Library and Lapidary

Source: www.budapest.com

Diocesan Treasury, Library And Lapidary

A typically handsome 17th-century palace, one street from Káptalan Hill holds the treasury and library for the Győr Diocese.

The residence was commissioned by the bishop Széchényi György in 1688 and the diocese’s extensive book and art collections were brought here in 1992. Some of the many ecclesiastical objects to check out are 18th-century vestments, bishops’ mitres, polychrome statues, paintings and works of goldsmithery like crosses, chalices and tabernacles.

The atmospheric library abounds with incunabula, codices and early Hungarian books.

In the lapidarium are Romanesque fragments salvaged from the foundations of the episcopal complex and the basilica.

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9. House of the Iron Stump

Source: Attila JANDI

House Of The Iron Stump

At no. 4 on Széchenyi Tér is a curious early Baroque house from the 17th century.

On one corner there’s a tree trunk studded with nails, the explanation being that every tradesman passing by the stump had to hammer a nail in for good luck.

Above it there’s a circular bay window, held up by sculpted corbels.

The house is a museum hosting the Imre Patkó Collection, notable for avant-garde art by the likes of Victor Vasarely, Béla Kondor, Endre Bálint and Lajos Kassák.

This is complemented by Chinese art and an ethnographic collection from Africa, Oceania and the Far East.

10. Esterházy Palace

Source: Palino Spisiak

Esterházy Palace

This refined late-Baroque mansion on Király Utca hosts the headquarters of the municipal art museum, which has various branches around Győr.

The palace took on its current design at the end of the 18th century when it was in the hands of Count Gábor Esterházy, who transformed a set of smaller medieval properties into one resplendent house.

As for the art inside, the permanent exhibition is centred on the collection of Dr Béla Radnai, alive in the 20th century.

He picked up a trove of pieces by members of the Gresham Circle, a Budapest-based Modernist movement in the 1920s.

Some of the artists represented in the collection are sculptor Ferenc Medgyessy, and painters like István Szönyi, József Egry and István Nagy.

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11. Synagogue

Source: Iakov Filimonov

Synagogue

Across the Rába, in an industrial zone, Győr’s Neolog synagogue is hard to miss for its mighty grey dome.

This monument was erected at the end of the 1860s in the neo-Romanesque style, and testifies to the financial means of the city’s industrialists at this time.

The synagogue is a little run-down, but restorations are ongoing.

The building has real architectural significance as it was used as a template for synagogues across central Europe in the late-19th century.

Since 1990, concerts and regular cultural events like the Mediawave film festival have been hosted here, and the art collection of the 20th-century entrepreneur János Vasilescu is on show.

A small Jewish cemetery sits behind, neatly kept by the synagogue’s caretakers.

12. Xántus János Múzeum

Source: Pe-Jo / Wikimedia

Xántus János Múzeum

On Széchenyi Tér, this museum is in yet another of Győr’s many delightful Baroque mansions.

The Apátur House, recognised by its mullioned bay window, dates to the early-1740s and was ordered by Sajghó Benedek, the Pannonhalma archbishop.

Founded in 1849, the museum inside is one of Hungary’s oldest public collections.

There are Roman, Migration Period (4th-6th centuries) and Pannonian artefacts, as well as coins and items relating to Győr’s Medieval guilds.

You can also view an exhibition of traditional tile stoves from the region, as well as postage stamps and an array of medical artefacts donated by the Petz family.

The museum is named for John Xantus, who was exiled from Hungary during the War of Independence in the mid-19th century and made his name as a zoologist travelling across North America.

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13. Castle Casemates and Lapidarium

Source: Peter Gudella

Castle Wall, Gyor

Also on Bécsi Kapu Tér is the entrance to the casemate in the Győr’s ramparts on the right ban of the Rába.

There had been walls protecting the episcopal palace on Káptalan Hill since the reign of King Stephen I at the start of the 11th century, but these took on added importance in the 16th century when Győr’s was the most powerful fort in a line of defences protecting the approach to Vienna against the Ottomans.

These walls were laced with casemates, and stuffed with firepower.

Only a small length of the ramparts and the Sforza-demi-bastion survives, and this corridor and courtyard hosts a neat little lapidarium.

Here you can peruse the fragments of the dismantled Vienna Gate, designed like a Roman triumphal arch, as well as a damaged chunk of the Fehérvár Gate, Roman-era steles, sarcophagi, milestones and an intriguing collection of antique bricks.

14. Pannonhalma Archabbey

Source: Martchan

Pannonhalma Archabbey

The essential day out if you’re in Győr is this UNESCO World Heritage active Benedictine abbey around 20 minutes by road to the south.

This hill-top monument is counted among the oldest in Hungary, with roots going back to the end of the 10th century.

It is believed that Martin of Tours, the 4th-century bishop who became venerated on the Way of St James, was born at the foot of this hill.

Pannonhalma Archabbey is the second-largest territorial abbey in the world, and has a miscellany of architecture in its basilica, cloisters and monastic buildings, from Romanesque to Neoclassical.

Three things you simply have to experience are that early-Gothic basilica, the Baroque Refectory with profuse trompe-l’œil frescoes and the stupendous Neoclassical library stacked with 350,000 volumes.

15. Xántus János Zoo

Source: Scarabaeus

Xántus János Zoo

Just the ticket for families, this small well-kept zoo specialises in animals from Africa.

There are giraffes, lions, zebras, pygmy hippos, chimpanzees, sitatungas and baboons, as well as an array of African birdlife including trumpeter hornbill and African grey parrots.

And from around the world you can stand a few feet from jaguars, white Bengal tigers, black bears, Asian small-clawed otters, anteaters and a great deal more.

The terrarium and reptile house features monitor lizards, pythons, a variety of tortoises and turtles and dwarf crocodiles, while flamingos have their own pool to wade in.

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15 Best Things to Do in Győr (Hungary) .

In the 4th century Christianity flourished in the Roman city of Sopianae, now called Pécs in the southwest of Hungary.

Ancient mausoleums from that time are buried under the modern streets of the city, and are all inscribed as a single UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Some of these chambers hold skilfully carved sarcophagi and vivid frescoes of Christian figures like the Virgin Mary and Adam and Eve.

Fast forward a few centuries and modern Pécs has made a name for its ceramics, crafted at the Zsolnay factory.

Pyrogranite, invented here in 1886, was quickly adopted by the stars of the Hungarian Art Nouveau movement as colourful and hard-wearing decoration for their imaginative buildings.

Let’s explore the best things to do in Pécs:

1. Early Christian Mausoleum

Source: Digoarpi

Early Christian Mausoleum

The ruins of the Roman city of Sopianae have been excavated all around Pécs, but maybe the most compelling discovery is the Early Christian Mausoleum.

Uncovered in 1975 and now part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site this mausoleum is one of several tomb monuments going back to the 4th century.

Like others found in Pécs, the cemetery chapel is unusual for the period as it had two levels, the top as a memorial chamber and the crypt for burials.

That chamber below has three marble sarcophagi and walls that are adorned with frescoes that have stood the test of time.

These are partly decorative patterns, but also show the Fall of Adam and Eve, the Tree of Life and Daniel in the Lion’s Den.

2. Cella Septichora Visitors Centre

Source: Botond Horvath

Cella Septichora Visitors Centre

Close by is another sepulchral early-Christian building that has no equivalent in the Danube region.

This chapel with seven apses was discovered between four and six metres below the ground.

Construction appears to have been broken off suddenly, and there’s no record of any burial taking place here.

It contains the St Peter and Paul burial chamber, which has a vault coated with frescoes showing Peter and Paul pointing toward a Christ monogram, as well as Noah’s dove with an olive branch, Jonah being cast in to the sea and Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

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3. Pécs Cathedral

Source: Vladimir Mucibabic

Pécs Cathedral

Built on the foundations of an early-Christian basilica from the 4th century, Pécs Cathedral flourished during the mid-11th century reign of Peter Orseolo.

The building has Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and neo-Romanesque architecture, as well as vestiges from Ottoman times when it became a warehouse.

Most of the facade is from a neo-Romanesque restoration in the 1880s, based on the 11th-century plans.

The oldest part of the cathedral is the “lower church”, measuring 21 x 21 metres and with a white marble statue of the 19th-century bishop Nándor Dulánszky, who began the restoration project.

The cathedral’s chapels are indispensible, with haunting frescoes by Károly Lotz and Bertalan Székely.

The latter painted the walls of the Mary and St Mór with images from famous moments in Hungarian history.

4. Zsolnay Museum

Source: Dedo Luka

Zsolnay Museum

This museum for the 19th-century ceramicist and factory owner Vilmos Zsolnay is in the oldest house in Pécs, dating back to at least 1324. In the 15th century Hungary’s first library was established inside, while under the Ottoman occupation a century later it became the official residence of the city’s chief Imam.

The ceramics factory founded by Zsolnay’s father, Miklós, in 1853 is still in operation today, and survived nationalisation in 1948. Its architectural decoration can still be seen on many buildings in Pécs.

The museum is a timeline of the Zsolnay factory’s creations, like faience and pyrogranite, tinted with eosin dye.

There are some fabulous works from the start of the 20th century when Zsolnay was involved in the Hungarian Secession (Art Nouveau). Also worthwhile is a whole room of ceramics that Vilmos Zsolnay brought back from his travels in Egypt and Persia.

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5. Zsolnay Cultural Quarter

Source: posztos

Zsolnay Cultural Quarter

East of the historic centre, a whole cultural and recreational district has been set up around the renovated previously disused Zsolnay factory buildings.

This transformation coincided with Pécs’ time as European Capital of Culture in 2010, when cultural institutions also moved into this five-hectare quarter.

The University of Pécs’ Art Faculty was relocated here and its library is housed in a converted ceramics kiln.

The “Pyrogranite Court” is used as an outdoor exhibition area, and has almost constant live music and other outdoor performances in summer.

In the E78 building is a modern concert hall, and the Street of Artisans’ Shops has ceramics studios, a popular chocolate shop, a restaurant and a cafe.

6. Széchenyi Square

Source: posztos

Széchenyi Square

As the place where people gather in Pécs’ city centre, Széchenyi Square was also spruced up for the city’s spell as European Capital of Culture in 2010. On the borders of this long, irregular plaza are some of Pécs’ big landmarks, like the city and council halls, the Nádor Hotel and the round dome of the Pasha Qasim Mosque-turned church, which we’ll talk about below.

The city’s Christmas tree is placed on Széchenyi Square in the advent period, and in September it’s the focal point of the Pécs Days Festival, which coincides with the grape harvest and has stalls with wine from the Pécs and Villány regions.

On the south side of the square is a fountain donated by the Zsolnay family.

With an eosin glaze, this beautiful monument by the ceramicist Andor Pilch, has decorative oxen heads spouting water.

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7. Mosque of Pasha Qasim

Source: posztos

Mosque Of Pasha Qasim

Impossible to miss on the north side of Széchenyi Square is a striking reminder of Pécs’ 150-year Ottoman occupation in the 16th and 17th centuries.

This place of worship went up in 1580. And although its minaret was brought down a few decades after the Habsburgs retook the city at the start of the 18th century, the octagonal main body of the mosque was simply converted into a Catholic church.

The building bears the hallmarks of Ottoman architecture in its plaster decoration and “Ablaq”, alternating rows of dark and light stone on its arches.

You can also catch some inscriptions from the Koran on the walls.

The two holy water vessels in the church are former baths belonging to Pécs’ pasha who resided next door.

8. Vasarely Museum

Source: Dedo Luka

Vasarely Museum

The founder of the Op Art (Optical Art) movement, Victor Vasarely was born in Pécs in 1908. At 24 he moved to France, where he spent the rest of his career.

In 1968 he donated a trove of serigraph prints, sculptures and tapestries to his home city.

These were put on public display in 1976 and sum up the progress of his career, from his early Bauhaus serigraphs to the mind-bending and kinetic geometric shapes and illusions that made him famous in the 50s and 60s.

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9. Csontváry Museum

Source: Váradi Zsolt (talk · contribs) / Wikimedia

Csontváry Museum

An eccentric and widely travelled painter, Tivadar Csontváry Kosztka never enjoyed much acclaim during his lifetime.

But since his death in 1919 his idiosyncratic work, influenced by post-Impressionism and Expressionism, has gained an audience, particularly in Hungary where his paintings now sell for more than a million Euros.

One of the first to recognise Csontváry’s talent was the architect and collector Gedeon Gerlóczy who eventually loaned his collection to Pécs to open a museum in 1973. That initial exhibition of ten works grew significantly when the State of Hungary purchased nearly all of his oeuvre.

Csontváry’s most celebrated piece, The Lonely Cedar (1907) is worth the admission alone.

10. Király Street

Source: posztos

Király Street

Between Széchenyi Square and Felsőmalom Street, this elegant thoroughfare in the heart of Pécs is traffic-free.

On the route are galleries, restaurants, cafes, with terraces under awnings and neatly clipped lime trees.

The stucco-fronted Neoclassical and Historicist houses add a real sense of ceremony, and at some of the properties you can look through passages to courtyards and graceful stairways and ornamental rosettes.

At no. 5 is the gorgeous Art Nouveau lobby of the Palatinus Hotel from 1915, and the street widens into a small square by the neo-Baroque National Theatre, which opened in 1895. The Zsolnay Porcelain Factory produced the ornate pyrogranite reliefs on the Vasváry house at no. 19, and the Caflisch confectioner’s shop at 32 is the oldest shop of its kind in the country, opening back in 1789.

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11. Archaeological Museum and Lapidarium

Source: Lestat (Jan Mehlich) / Wikimedia

Archaeological Museum And Lapidarium

The Archaeological Museum is in an 18th-century late-Baroque monument on Széchenyi Square.

In the courtyard are steles and sarcophagi recovered from the many Roman digs around the city.

One of the outstanding exhibits in the galleries is the Zengővárkonyi Madonna, a Neolithic idol of a woman approximately 6,000 years old.

Check out the Bronze Age artefacts going back 3,000 years and found at a settlement on the Jakab Hill not far away.

One of the most peculiar pieces is a Bronze Age pot in the shape of a bird from Zók, about 15 kilometres to the west.

12. Synagogue

Source: risteski goce

Synagogue

The city’s Jewish community grew steadily from the 18th century, and by the 1930s the congregation at this synagogue was 4,000-strong.

After deportations and the holocaust that has dwindled to less than 300 today.

The Synagogue, dating to 1869, combines Neoclassical and Moorish Revival design.

The inscription on the facade above the clock reads “House of Prayer for All Nations”, a quotation from the Book of Isaiah.

One of the building’s claims to fame is that its organ was the first commission for the master organ manufacturer József Angster, installed the year synagogue was completed in 1869. This wonderful instrument has two manuals, 24 registers and more than 1,530 pipes.

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13. Pécs TV Tower

Source: Istvan Csak

Pécs TV Tower

The tallest building in Hungary looms over the north of Pécs on the Misina peak in the Mecsek mountain range.

Comprising 18,500 tons of reinforced concrete, the tower was built between 1968 and 1973 and stands at 197 metres high.

A high-speed lift whisks you up to the cafe and observation platform at 72 metres, where there’s a small exhibition about the komlosaurus dinosaur, discovered in the Mecsek range in 1983. But the main attraction is the cinematic view of Pécs and the Baranyai hills to the south.

When the weather’s clear you can see the faint outline of eastern Croatia’s Papuk mountain, some 100 kilometres to the southwest.

14. Pécs Zoo

Source: jaana piira

Pécs Zoo

On the way to the TV Tower in the first hills of the Mecsek range is Pécs’ newly regenerated zoo.

The attraction had been closed since 2012 and reopened opened its doors in 2016 with many new species and more than 1,000 individual animals.

There’s an aquarium with reef sharks, and modern enclosures for zebras, ring-tailed lemurs, cougars, Bengal tigers Persian leopards and lions.

The terrarium houses tree pythons, chameleons and seals in a multi-level building, and there are also brand new facilities for hippos, chimpanzees, crocodiles and a petting zoo.

Being in the Mecsek Mountains, the zoo also has an eco-park where you can get to know the animal and plant species native to the range.

15. Wine Tourism

Source: Istvan Csak

Pecs Vineyard

The Romans introduced winemaking to Pécs 2,000 years ago, and this industry flourished from the early 18th century after the Ottoman period.

There has been another rebirth since the start of the Third Republic in 1989, and the south-facing slopes of the Mecsek mountains to the north are clad with vines growing mostly white Welschriesling, but also Chardonnay and Zierfandler.

The Villány region near the border with Croatia benefits from a sunnier climate and grows Blaufränkisch, Merlot, Syrah, Pinot Noir and Cabernets for some famously potent reds.

Look out for the “Classicus” and “Premium” labels, which are the gold standards.

If you’d like to get acquainted with southern Hungary’s viticulture there are four wineries in the region open to tours (Hetényi, Radó Pince, István PInce Borozó and Matias).

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15 Best Things to Do in Pécs (Hungary) .

At the confluence of the Tisza and Maros Rivers, Szeged is a city that was reborn at the end of the 19th century.

In 1879 a flood almost wiped Szeged out, leaving only 265 of 5723 houses standing.

On the back of the catastrophe there was intense construction, furnishing Szeged with proud Neoclassical, Eclecticist and Art Nouveau architecture.

Emperor Franz Joseph stopped by in 1883 during the rebuild, and made the bold claim that the city would be more beautiful than before. And he may well have been correct.

Awaiting you in Szeged is an Art Nouveau synagogue of unbelievable beauty, dramatic squares skirted by palaces, a museum in a bold Neoclassical Palace and a decorative brick church that is the fourth-largest building in Hungary.

Let’s explore the best things to do in Szeged:

1. Votive Church

Source: Cristi Popescu

Votive Church

Szeged’s cathedral was begun in 1913 and completed in 1930 after progress was interrupted by the First World War.

It replaced the flood-damaged Medieval Church of St Demetrius, a tower of which can be seen close by.

On a plaza with the same dimensions as St Mark’s Square in Venice, the Votive Church is the fourth largest building in Hungary, with a capacity of 5,000 and towers cresting 91 metres above the square.

In keeping with Szeged’s Eclectic architecture, the building is a fusion of Byzantine, neo-Romanesque and neo-Gothic and is replete with frescoes painted in the second half of the 20th century.

2. Móra Ferenc Múzeum

Source: Travelsewhere

Móra Ferenc Múzeum

On the Tisza riverbank near the Belváros Bridge, is possibly the most distinguished landmark constructed during the building boom that followed the flood of 1879. The Neoclassical Palace for Public Education has a regal portico supported by Corinthian columns.

This monument holds a multidisciplinary museum, putting on high-profile temporary exhibitions.

In the last few years there have been exhibitions for the celebrated Hungarian painter Mihály Munkácsy and sarcophagi and artefacts from Ancient Egypt.

The permanent exhibitions deal with natural history and regional culture and crafts, all explained with moving models, multimedia and interactive displays.

Also on show are valuable artefacts like pieces from the Hunnic Gold Hoard of Nagyszéksos dating between the 6th and 10th century and discovered in 1926.

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3. Reök-Palota

Source: Mister No / Wikimedia

Reök-Palota

The Secessionist architect Ede Magyar, known as the “Hungarian Gaudí”, designed this whimsical palace for the chief water engineer Iván Reök in 1907. The theme is water, which is appropriate for the fluid lines of the Art Nouveau style, and is manifested in the pastel blue water lilies adorning the facade, waveform wall surfaces and wrought-iron balcony rails resembling plants swirling in water.

Be here for a photo at sunset when the greens and lilacs on that facade almost seem to glow.

The Reök-Palota was restored in 2007 and since then has been a cultural centre, staging temporary art exhibitions with works by Chagall, Rembrandt and Picasso, as well as concerts, theatre productions and other events.

4. Szeged Synagogue

Source: Ungvari Attila

Szeged Synagogue

Hungary’s second-largest synagogue, and the fourth-largest in the world, the Neolog Synagogue is spellbinding, both for its dimensions and the beauty of its ivory blue and gold decoration.

Completed in 1907, it was designed with a mixture of Historicism and Art Nouveau, and has lots of symbolism hidden in its interior.

The central dome is almost 50 metres high, and has graded starry blue windows by the master glass painter Manó Róth, who produced the rest of the synagogue’s ethereal stained glass.

The dome’s 24 columns symbolise the hours in the day, while the rose flowers symbolise the Revelation.

In the triumphal arch you can see the Second Commandment “Love thy neighbour as thyself” written in Hebrew and Hungarian.

The synagogue has high-grade acoustics and is often used for classical concerts.

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5. Serbian Orthodox Church

Source: Plazma at Hungarian Wikipedia / Wikimedia

Serbian Orthodox Church

Being close to the modern border between the two countries, Szeged had a large Serbian minority for hundreds of years.

This was partly a consequence of the Ottoman advance, going back to the Battle of Kosovo in the 14th century.

When Szeged was liberated from the Ottomans in 1686 Serbs arrived in even greater numbers.

This monument just behind the Votive Church was built at the end of the 18th century.

It was the second Orthodox Church on this site and the fourth to be constructed in the city.

The late-Baroque architecture is understated and gives no indication of the extraordinary Rococo iconostasis at the end of the nave.

Many of the 74 icons were painted for the church’s predecessor by the Serbian Baroque artist Jovan Popović in 1761, all set in a web of patterned gold.

6. Dóm Square

Source: miroslav110

Dóm Square

The brick-built square in front of the Votive Church is part of the same ensemble, laid out at the turn of the 1930s.

It’s an impressive plaza, walled by arcaded university and ecclesiastical buildings that give it superlative acoustics.

Since 1930 the square has hosted the Szegedi Szabadtéri Játékok, a festival of opera, concerts, theatre and literature recitals in summer.

The south and east sides of the square are home to university departments, while the diocesan museum, episcopal palace and college of theology are to the west.

In the arcades is the National Pantheon with more than 100 statues commemorating illustrious Hungarians.

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7. Dömötör Tower

Source: skovalsky

Dömötör Tower

Just on the left side of the Votive Church’s main facade on Dóm Square is the oldest structure in Szeged.

The Dömötör Tower has foundations from the 1000s, Romanesque lower floors dating to the 1100s and Gothic upper floors from the 1200s.

The tower once belonged to the destroyed St Demetrius Church and resembles Rhenish Romanesque architecture in France and Germany.

The upper section has 48 ogival windows on three levels.

Below, a baptistery chapel was embedded in the structure after a renovation in 1931. Sitting over the entrance is a replica of the oldest sculpture in Szeged, a 12th-century representation of the Lamb of God.

8. City Hall

Source: Ungvari Attila

City Hall

The yellow neo-Baroque monument on the west flank of Széchenyi Square is the third city hall to stand at this site.

The last version was badly damaged in the flood of 1879, and the architects Ödön Lechner and Gyula Pártos conceived an additional floor and the now iconic central spire.

From the outside you can also see the Bridge of Sighs, a Venice-inspired covered crossing linking the City Hall to the council building next door.

Emperor Franz Joseph visited Szeged in 1883 to inaugurate the new City Hall, and his promise that “Szeged will be more beautiful than it used to be” is recorded on the middle window of the central staircase.

Another reference to the flood can be seen in the statue of a phoenix on the facade’s pediment.

You can go on tours if you arrange in advance, and in summer there are open-air music performances in the courtyard.

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9. Széchenyi Square

Source: Ungvari Attila

Széchenyi Square

This landscaped five-hectare plaza is traced by Eclectic-style mansions and monuments like the City Hall and Hotel Tisza, which was once a magnet for famous writers, composers and poets.

Until the flood of 1879 Széchenyi Square was a marketplace and parade ground bounded by the western walls of the city castle.

After Szeged was liberated from the Ottomans and regained its rank as a Free Royal City in 1715, the square became the administrative centre of the city.

Beyond its size and the grandeur of the surrounding architecture, what will impress you most about Széchenyi Square is the greenery afforded by plane trees, empress trees and magnolia.

In amongst the flowerbeds are solemn monuments to important Hungarian figures like the namesake statesman István Széchenyi and the politician Lajos Tisza, who oversaw Szeged’s post-flood reconstruction.

10. Klauzál Square

Source: belizar

Klauzál Square

At the start of the 2000s Klauzál Square and Kárász Street, just south of Széchenyi Square were completely renovated, a project that earned Szeged the European Nostra Award for heritage in 2004. This long, rectangular square is a marvellous space, fronted by grand three storey mansions in the Eclectic, Neoclassical and Art Nouveau styles of the late-1800s and early-1900s.

There’s a smattering of cafes pouring onto the square, and at the very centre is a statue of Lajos Kossuth, the president of Hungary during the Revolution of 1848-49 against the Habsburg Empire.

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11. University Botanical Garden

Source: belizar

University Botanical Garden

When the University of Kolozsvár relocated to Szeged in the 1920s an extensive space on the southern edge of the city was allocated for a botanical garden.

The attraction has made its name for two species: The towering metasequoia (dawn redwood), a coniferous tree originating from southern China, and the Indian lotus, which was planted here more than eight decades ago, growing in a pond decorated with a Buddha.

If you happen to be in Szeged in July, you have to come by the garden to see the lotus in bloom.

The garden also has collections of industrial and agricultural plant species planted according to their purpose, be it nourishment, dyes, medicine or fibres for rope and fabrics.

12. Water Tower

Standing proud in the grassy Szent István Square is a 46-metre water tower dating to 1904. One of the things that makes this structure special is that it was the first of its kind in Hungary to be built from reinforced concrete, and was designed by Szilárd Zielinski, who was a pioneer for this type of construction.

The tower still fills its original purpose, holding more than 1,000 cubic metres of water.

From April to October you can go up for vistas of Szeged and as you go there’s an exhibition on physics including a Foucault Pendulum to demonstrate the rotation of the earth.

On the paved walkway at the bottom of the tower are bronze busts of architects who transformed the Szeged cityscape after the flood.

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13. Napfényfürdő Aquapolis

Source: facebook.com

Napfényfürdő Aquapolis

On the left bank of the Tisza is an indoor waterpark and pool complex with slides for youngsters and fitness facilities and thermal treatments for grown-ups . There are 13 slides here, adding up to a kilometre in length.

This includes the longest year-round covered slide in Europe, the Blue Anaconda, 272 metres long and starting from a 30-metre platform.

One for older kids is the Kamikaze, which is almost like a freefall, taking as little as two seconds to hit the splash pool.

Parents can book mud wraps, carbon dioxide baths, underwater jet massages and physiotherapy, and there’s a Finnish sauna, steam room, jacuzzis and a 25-metre training pool.

Free Wi-Fi is also provided.

14. Szeged Zoo

Source: belizar

Szeged Zoo

The largest zoo in the country is 2.5 kilometres from the centre of Szeged.

The zoo opened in 1989 and is geared towards animal conservation, building habitats that are replicas of the species’ natural environments.

Everything is organised geographically so it’s pretty easy to get around, and you can try to time your visit to coincide with the regular feeding sessions.

Szeged Zoo is engaged in breeding programmes for giant anteaters, marmosets and snow leopards, and the zoo made the news in 2012 when three snow leopard cubs were born here.

Of course, all the crowd -pleasers are here, like giraffes, lions, penguins, tigers, meerkats and tapirs.

15. Paprika

Source: Julie Clopper

Pride Of Szeged Paprika

As any trip into the capsicum-covered countryside will tell you, Szeged is the capital of Hungary’s favourite spice, paprika.

Capsicum benefits from the high annual sunshine in this southern corner of the country, and if you’re keen to know more about paprika there’s a combined salami and paprika museum run by the Pick cold meat brand.

You can get hold of a pot of sweet or hot paprika in most souvenir shops in Szeged.

Paprika is of course a vital ingredient in Hungary’s national dish, goulash, a warming meat and vegetable stew.

Locally, hot paprika goes into halászlé or fisherman’s soup, a spicy preparation composed of carp, catfish, sturgeon and perch, as well as green peppers, tomatoes and red onion.

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15 Best Things to Do in Szeged (Hungary) .