Szeged

 

Szeged, the county town of Csongrád County, is in the centre of the South Alföld (Southern Great Plain) Region and will, together with Pécs, be the European Capital of Culture in 2010. It is the largest town in south-eastern Hungary, with 163 thousand inhabitants, and is situated at the confluence of the rivers Tisza and Maros.

The journey by road from Budapest takes around one and a half hours and is a comfortable drive along the M5 motorway, a distance of 165km. The elegant, comfortable Inter City trains make the trip from the capital in just two and a quarter hours, whilst the recently inaugurated airport, which can handle small and medium-sized aircraft, has brought Szeged and its region into closer contact not just with the rest of Hungary but with the world.

The number of sunny days is 2100 hours a year, therefore this town, at the junction of the rivers Tisza and Maros, is often called the "town of sunshine". After the great flood of "blond Tisza" in 1879, a well-designed, new town was built with international help in splendid eclectic-secession style.

One of the world-famous products of the town is the matchless Pick Salami and Szegedi Paprika giving good flavor to Hungarian foods. Much paprika is used to the Szegedi Fish soup as well.

 

 

 

 

 A row of famous buildings can be found in the Dom square: the Bishop's Palace, the Theological College, university buildings, the Catholic Boarding House, the neo-roman Bishop's Cathedral of monumental size with 5000 seats built by survivors of the great flood. The Cathedral also known as Votal Church was completed in 1930.

 

 

The 86-centner bell of the Votal Church is the second biggest one in the country. In the sanctuary, we can see the mosaic picture of Madonna in Szegedi slippers and embroidered coat (called "szűr" in Hungarian). Left from the altar, we can see the work .Christ on the Cross. that won the Grand Prix award in 1900 in Paris. One of the biggest organs in Europe, the five-manual organ with 9040 pipes is the .main character. in the organ concerts. Saint Dömötör Tower is the reminiscence of a thirteenth-century church. The sculptures of 90 prominent individuals of the Hungarian literature and science were places in the National Memorial Hall.