5 Best Sights in Kecskemét, Hungary

Kecskemét’s most famous building is the Cifrapalota (Ornamental Palace), a unique and remarkable Hungarian-style Art Nouveau building built in 1902. A three-story cream-colored structure studded with folksy lilac, blue, red, and yellow Zsolnay majolica flowers and hearts, it stands on Liberty Square’s corner like a cheerful cream pastry. Once a residential building, it now houses the Kecskeméti képtár (Kecskemét Gallery), with an excellent display of artwork by Hungarian fine artists as well as occasional international exhibits and some space devoted to local history and traditions. The ground floor houses the permanent fine art collection, but it's the Peacock Hall on the second floor that's the highlight here, with its decorative ceiling dotted with peafowl.

Kecskemét is Hungary’s fruit capital, and it’s worth experiencing the region’s riches firsthand by visiting the bustling indoor and covered market, around 2 km (1 mile) from the city center. Depending on the season, you can indulge in freshly plucked apples, cherries, and the famous Kecskemét apricots. Provided there is no sudden spring freeze, apricot season is around June through August. The market is surrounded by cafés and food stalls, so it makes a good option for a combined shopping and lunch excursion.

The oldest building on Kossuth tér is the Szent Miklós templom (Church of St. Nicholas), known also as the Barátság templom (Friendship Church) because of St. Nick’s role as the saint of friendship. The church, the oldest in the city, was built in Gothic style in either the 13th or 15th century (a subject of debate). What is not debated is that it was rebuilt in baroque style during the 18th century. Once you pass through the elaborate wrought-iron gate and through an attractive little courtyard out front, note the interior’s apricot hues, which are typical of many an edifice in downtown Kecskemét.

The unusual, one-of-a-kind Szórakoténusz Toy Museum and Workshop chronicles the history of Hungarian toys with almost 18,000 archaeological pieces such as stone figures and clay toys from medieval guilds. The museum also hosts changing international exhibits. In the workshop, artisans create traditional toys and invite you to try to make toys yourself. Next door to the toy museum (in the same building) is the small Magyar Naív Muvészek Múzeum (Hungarian Naive Art Museum), where you can see a collection of this simple style of painting and sculpting created by Hungarian artists. The museum is in a less-than-inspiring neighborhood of concrete apartment blocks, but only a five-minute walk from downtown.

Built between 1892 and 1896 by Ödön Lechner in the Hungarian Art Nouveau style that he created, the Városház (Town Hall) is one of its finest examples. Window frames are arched here, pointed there, and the roof, peppered with tiny copper- and gold-color tiles, looks as if it has been rained on by pennies from heaven. In typical Lechner style, the outlines of the central facade make a curving line to a pointed top, under which 37 little computer-driven bells in a screened-in balcony of sorts add the finishing visual and aural touch: every hour from 9 am to 4 pm (hours may vary on Friday and weekends), they flood the main square with the ringing melody of the “Rákóczi March,” a patriotic 18th-century tune later orchestrated by Berlioz and adapted by Liszt in one of his Hungarian Rhapsodies. Note also the goat occupying center stage in the city’s coat of arms on the building’s facade. The building’s Dísz Terem (Ceremonial Hall), on the second floor, is a spectacular palace of glimmering gold-painted vaulted ceilings, exquisitely carved wooden pews, colorful frescoes by Bertalan Székely (who also painted the frescoes for Budapest’s Matthias Church), and a gorgeously ornate chandelier that floats above the room like an ethereal bouquet of lights and shining brass. The hall is open only to tour groups that have made prior arrangements.