What to do and see in Szeged, Southern Great Plain: The Best Free Things to do

Szeged's main pedestrian street with many architectural masterpieces (for example: Kis Dávid Palota, Eisenstadter House, Várnay House), which can only be walked on foot. At the entrance from Széchenyi Square, stands a bronze pair of people dressed in a Renaissance carnival costume, welcoming the walkers to the pedestrian street. Perfect for strolling, people watching and window-shopping.

The square with exactly the same area as the Saint Mark Square in Venice (12,000 m2), bordered by elegant, northern European style buildings, was designed by Béla Rerrich and built between 1928 and 1930. On the eastern and southern side there are university institutes, while the western side is lined by the buildings of the bishop’s palace and the college of theology. The National Pantheon, placed under the arcades, includes over a hundred statues representing the prominent characters of Hungarian history, sciences and arts. The Open Air Festival was first held in front of the Votive Church in 1931. In the past decades after the first, religious themed performance, an abundance of theatrical shows have been amusing the audience in the largest “star-roof theatre” in the country.

The present City Hall is the 3rd building in the same place with the same function. The 1st building of a modest design was erected in 1728.It was followed by the second one with the same area as the present hall,designed by István Vedres at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries.After the flood devastating almost the entire city(1879),the square was filled up,so the building became too low and awkward.Ödön Lechner and Gyula Pártos designed another floor and a slender central tower on the original foundation. The neo-baroque City Hall was inaugurated by Emperor Franz Joseph I in 1883,the middle window of the staircase is decorated with his renowned saying:"Szeged will be more beautiful than it used to be".The phoenix in the middle of the pediment symbolizes the revival os Szeged.The Bridge of Sighs,originally built for the Emperor and his escort visiting the reconstructed city.In the court with a unique atmosphere theatrical and musical performances await the audience each summer.

The value preserving reconstruction of Kárász Street and Klauzál Square was granted with the Europe Nostra Award in 2004. The downtown palaces display the features of the different competing styles of the time, classicism, eclecticism and Art Nouveau. Their versatile, distinctive nature still creates a uniquely harmonic, well-balanced picture. While having a coffee, a cake or an ice-cream, we can have a look at the full-sized bronze statue of Lajos Kossuth, who made his last speech in Hungary from the balcony of the Kárász House, located on the other side of the square. On the eastern side of the square the harmonic building of the former Hotel Europe can be found as well as the New Zsótér House, which was built on the outer piles of the old castle, and where the operations of the reconstruction were directed from.

The western walls of the castle built on the bank of the River Tisza in the 13th century were situated in the present Széchenyi Square,while the barren field in front of them served as a main market square and as a practice area for the soldiers defending the castle.Following the Turkish occupation,when Szeged regained its former rights and rank of a free royal city,the City Hall,the administrative centre was built here too.The 19th century reshaped the square both in appearance and function:on the southern side majestic palces were built,then during the reconstruction following the Great Flood of 1879,the castle walls were pulled down.In place of them, ,eclectic style residential and public buildings were erected and parks were created.The square,covering more than 50000m2,is lined by ancient plane trees,magnolia flowers,empress trees and many other unique plants.Among them nicely made statues make us remember some of the influential figures in the history of the city,country.