Szeged
the home of paprika
This plesent town has seen many leaders during its past and has played an important role in the countries hustory since the 15th cenury as main city of southern Hungary. The spice Paprika made from dried capsicum. Paprika arrived in Hungary in the second half of the 16th century as an ornamental plant. About 100 years later the plant was cultivated as a herb, and paprika as we know it. Today the inner city of Szeged has beautiful buildings and wide avenues. This is mainly due to the great flood of 1879, which literally wiped away the whole town (only 265 of the 5723 houses remained and 165 people died). Emperor Franz Joseph visited the town and promised that "Szeged will be more beautiful than it used to be". He kept his promise. During the next years a new, modern city emerged from the ruins, with palaces and wide streets.
Dóm Square
Dóm Square is the most beautiful square in Szeged. It is dominated by the Votive Church of Our Lady but there are other equally attractive elements surrounding it. The square was completed between 1929-32. On the western side you can see the Theological College of Szeged, in the south-western corner, there is the Bishop’s Palace and in the southern and eastern sides Szeged University facilities and research centres are situated. The arcade surrounding the square facilitates the National Pantheon. Originally it was founded in 1930 but since then many more sculptures and reliefs have been added. You can see works of art depicting famous Hungarian scientists, artists and historical personalities. In the southern part of the building surrounding the square there is a musical clock. It was made in 1936 and you can see the 12 zodiac signs on it. The figures emerging from the clock depict real people, for example among the students we can see famous Hungarian poets and artists of Szeged. In Dóm Square, to the left of the Votive Church, you can also see the Dömötör Tower, the oldest building in the city. It dates back to the 11th century; the building was restored in 1931.
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Mora Ferenc Museum
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The Municipal Museum and Library was founded in 1883 by Károly Somogyi. 1896 the present neo-classical style building was opened after plans of Antal Steinhardt and Adolf Lang. The museum and library combined institution was called the Palace of Public Education, which became divided in 1950 - the museum took on the name of Ferenc Mora. The public collection of 19th-century John Reizner, high-acquainted with the history of the city of Szeged led to the early 20th century, the writer and journalist as well as curators been managed by István Tömörkény and Ferenc Mora. Mora Ferenc Cs. Charles Sebastian, Csallány Dezso, Blonde Michael Balint alajos followed, and in 1970 Trogmayer Otto archaeological researcher and university professor took the director's chair. He was nearly three decades the leader of the museum, developed in Ópusztaszer National Historical Park under management. He was followed by Gabriella Red archaeologist-curator and historian Stephen Sombor and is currently Perch archaeologist Otto is at the head of the museum.
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National Theatre of Szeged
In 1878 the Szeged Theatrical Association was founded to raise funds for a future theatre. The huge reconstruction after the disastrous flood of 1879, that literally wiped the city, helped this effort. After the city council agreed upon the plans, construction began in 1882. Used scenery for the theatre was bought from the tragically burned Ring Theatre of Vienna. The opening was on 14 October 1883, in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph I.
18 months after the opening, on 22 April 1885 the theatre was burned down. However, reconstruction was swift. The Fellner & Helmer company modified the previous plans to decrease the fire-hazard, and also made smaller alterations to the outer shape of the building. Historical theatre's ceiling decorations were painted in 1885 by the famous Vienna court painter Hermann von Kern (1839-1912). The rebuilt theatre was opened on 2 October 1886. After 100 years of its opening, the theatre was renovated in 1978-86. |
Saint Nicholas church
Szeged new Synagogue
The Szeged Synagogue (Hungarian: Szegedi zsinagóga) is a synagogue in Szeged, Hungary. It is a 1907 building designed by the Jewish Hungarian architect Lipót Baumhorn (1860–1932,), whose work is considered to contain the finest examples of the unique fin de siècle Hungarian blending of Art Nouveau and Historicist styles sometimes known as Magyar style. It served Szeged's large Neolog community.
The building's interior, with its 48.5 meters (159 feet) tall domed ceiling, draws on multiple historical styles to produce its overall Art Nouveau/Moorish Revival style. The rib-like wall above the organ has Gothic origins, while the columns supporting the galleries are Roman. The interior of the great dome, and all of the building's stained glass, are the work of the artist Miksa Róth. The design of the Torah Ark alludes to the Holy of Holies in the Temple of Solomon by using sittimwood from the banks of Nile, the wood called for in the building of the Temple of Solomon in 1 Kings. The hinges are in the shape of the Hyssop plant, a plant used in the ancient Temple service. The Szeged Synagogue is the second largest in Hungary after the Dohány Street Synagogue in Budapest, and the 4th largest in the world. |
Szeged old Synagogue
town hall
university
After the Great Flood of 1879, the citizens of Szeged made several attempts at establishing an institution of higher education in Szeged. These efforts did not bear fruit until 1921, when the University of Kolozsvár was moved to Szeged. This move was occasioned by the conclusion of World War I, when the Trianon Peace Treaty ceded the province of Transylvania to Romania.
Teaching at the University started on 10 October 1921. The town made considerable efforts to ensure suitable conditions for the new university. The new buildings constructed on the Szeged bank of the Tisza river between 1924 and 1930 housed first of all the clinics and the institutes of the Medical School. Other attractive buildings surrounding the new Cathedral were given to the Faculty of Sciences and to the College of Catholic Theology. The Faculties of Law and Arts were accommodated in older buildings, originally used for other purposes. |
votive church
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Construction of the church began in 1913 after a flood had destroyed most of Szeged. It was designed by Foer Erno and was completed in 1930 (Since the city did not have the money to erect the building after Frigyes Schulek's plans). The construction of the church was a result of a pledge made by the inhabitants of Szeged to build a cathedral after the flood of March 1879.
The Commissioner of the King was looking for a place for the church to be built, and decided on the site of the medieval St. Demeter Church. Today all that remains of the church is the Dömötör tower (now the oldest building in Szeged). Thirty-five design plans were submitted in a competition, and in the end the plans were chosen and the foundation was laid on June 21, 1914. The construction was stopped because of World War I, and was finally finished on October 24, 1930, and was blessed by various bishops and archbishops. The next day the church held its first mass. The church is made mostly of brick, and has two towers, each 91 meters high, and a large dome in between. The front of the church has a Grecian cross and rose windows underneath. Below that is the 3-metre-tall statue of Madonna, the protector of Hungary since Stephen I. On each side of the statue there are paintings of the 12 Apostles. Underneath them is the main gate and the cathedral's side gates – the one on the right is labeled "Peace"/"Venite adoremus" and the one on the left is "War"/"Vae victis". |