Kecskemét

The city of towers

Kecskemét is tucked away in the middle of the endless plain. The city, with its beauty and the numerous sights, is the bright spot of the area between the Danube and the Tisza. The buildings of the inner city do not evoke bygone days, but more the atmosphere of the Art Nouveau, of which the best examples are the official buildings and museums.

During the time of the Turkish occupation the population of the surrounding area fled to cities which were secured with a fence. This was to avoid the fighting in the area and the tyranny of Sipahi lords. Kecskemét had further protection because of its privileged legal status, as it paid taxes directly to the pasha of Buda.

There were times when Kecskemét used to be a commercial city and a place which levied duties on goods. It even had a marketplace due to its favourable location near the Vienna-Buda-Belgrade trade route. Several churches were built here, which used to serve as the centre of social life. Looking around you can see so many churches that you will understand immediately why Kecskemét is called ‘the city of towers’.

The structure of the city is characterised by zones, just like other market towns. The outermost part is a network of isolated farms; then come the orchards with houses of differing sizes. Within the next zone are the ditches that surround the paved streets. The innermost part is the city centre.

The two great figures of Kecskemét

Two famous figures of Hungarian cultural life were born here, Zoltán Kodály and József Katona. The building of the present railway station was the birthplace of the world-famous Zoltán Kodály. He was one of the greatest Hungarian composers, whose methods of music-education are still applied. The father of Hungarian drama, József Katona is the writer of a fundamental piece of Hungarian literature, Bánk Bán.

Unique Art Nouveau and Secession

The image of the inner city is prevailed by three buildings: the City Hall [Városháza] designed by Ödön Lechner; the well known Cifra Palace [Cifrapalota] and the Calvinist Grammar School & Law Academy. These charming buildings do not have the usual features of the Art Nouveau but its unique, Hungarian version with folksy characteristics.

The years of Petőfi’s actor career

As a travelling actor the greatest Hungarian poet, Sandor Petofi, played for three months in the city. But this was not the first time he was here, as between 1828 and 1831 he went to the Lutheran elementary school of Kecskemét, which he used to call a ‘famous city’.