TABLE OF CONTENTS Wandering in the Past ............................................................................................................ 2 Inviting Flavours, Delicious Meals ...................................................................................... 16 Hortobágy Awaits You .......................................................................................................... 3 Cultural and Gastronomical Programmes .......................................................................... 20 Graceful Churches, Fabulous Castles and Fortresses ............................................................ 4 Products, Services and Events “Recommended by the Northern Great Plain Region” ........... 26 Treasures and Collections in Museums ................................................................................ 8 Information, Addresses ........................................................................................................ 30 – Village Inns, Guest Houses – Museums Traditional Handcraftsmanship ............................................................................................ 12 – Tourinform Offices, National Parks, Cultural Organisations and Information Agencies The World of the Arts ....................................................................................................... 14 Evangelic church – Nyíregyháza 1 cyanmagentayellowblack TREASURE TROVE: THE NORTHERN GREAT PLAIN REGION – CULTURE AND HERITAGE Wandering in the Past The region is rich in historical heritage. These pages are intended to intro- duce the cultural heritage of the region and also to encourage the reader to visit the northern region of the Great Hungarian Plain and its wide variety of architectural and cultural sights. The Thermal Bath of Sóstó, situated right by the city of Nyíregyháza, is famous for its peculiar atmosphere that inspired Gyula Krúdy, the popular writer between the two world wars, as well as Lujza Blaha, the celebrated actress of the 19th century. Today people may revisit the past in the Mu- seum Village of Sóstó, the only open-air ethnographical museum of the region. Visitors should stop by – even for a short hour – the romantic fortresses, the castles surrounded by massive walls, and the spiritual centres: the churches of the region. Most of these churches are the mas- terpieces of the cultic and artistic traditions of architecture, regardless of their size or importance: it is equally a breath-taking experience to look up at the coffered ceiling covering the mud-and-doub walls of the Calvinist church of Tákos, or to pay homage to the memorabilia of the Hungarian Revolution (1848-49) in the grand Calvinist Church of Debrecen. The past is also present in memorial sights of famous literary persons, in ethno- graphical curiosities or in the heritage of folk architecture. The regions of Tiszahát, Erdőhát, Nagykunság and Jászság offer their visitors peace and slow time. Without the past our future becomes obscure, therefore we need to stop and look around before we move on. Main Square, Grand Calvinist Church – Debrecen 2 cyanmagentayellowblack functions as the pasture for traditional Hungarian species of domestic animals, such as cattle, pig and sheep. If we are ready to go close the “puszta” reveals its hidden treasures: we may witness tens of thousands of cranes, wild geese, and mallards moving across the plain during their migration in spring and autumn. Groups of white stork regularly patrol the sky while you need to be lucky to meet black storks and spoonbills. Hortobágy is also the home of the characters of an old pastoral world: cattlemen, shepherds and horsemen and their loyal helpers the puli and the komondor, a small and a big species of longhaired sheepdogs of a Hungarian breed. Other characteristic elements of the scenery are grazing herds, sweep-pole wells, horsemen riding in baggy trousers, the famous stonebridge that is built over nine spans – it is named after the “nine holes” and with its 167 metres, it is the longest vehicular stone bridge in Hungary –, and the Hortobágy Csárda, the famous country tavern. On hot summer days we may witness the delusion of fata morgana, an unusual Grand Egret – Hortobágy natural phenomenon. In spite of the vast pastures the entire area is not covered by the alka- line soil of the puszta, there is also an extensive system of fish-ponds Hortobágy Awaits You here, and nearly forty percent of the national park is covered by a boggy, Considered as a part of our World Heritage, Hortobágy hides in the heart swampy, wetland area. The National Park offers exhibition houses and of the European Continent and offers insight into a long last harmony educational paths to introduce the flora and fauna of the area. between man and nature. In 1972 UNESCO adopted the treaty on the What appears first as an inanimate, burnt out, saline area is the home preservation of the world’s cultural and natural heritage. The list of World of thousands of birds. There are two hundred couples of spoonbill hatch- Heritage contains historic monuments, buildings, cultural sights, natural ing in the highly preserved area. Horse breeding and equestrian sports formations or areas of universal significance from historical, artistic or are also characteristic activities in the area that was compared to a vast scientific perspective. Hortobágy National Park covers an area of 200 open sea by Sándor Petőfi, the revolutionary poet in the 19th century. thousand acres and it is the largest pasture in Europe that remained in- Hortobágy-Máta is the largest equestrian centre of the region, but there tact. The National Park was adopted as part of the World Heritage in are also other horse farms open for visitors. If not on horseback, the best December 1999 as an outstanding example of a lasting coexistence of way to approach the treasures of the pristine environment is to take a trip man and nature. It consists of an endless grassy plain, the “puszta”, that on a horse carriage. 3 cyanmagentayellowblack TREASURE TROVE: THE NORTHERN GREAT PLAIN REGION – CULTURE AND HERITAGE Graceful Churches, The Greek Catholic basilica in Máriapócs is an internationally renowned Fabulous Castles and Fortresses place of pilgrimage that became famous for its weeping image of the Vir- Like beacons in ancient times, church towers guide travellers gin Mary. The Israelite cemetery in Nagykálló is often visited by pilgrims by piercing the vast horizon and by the sound of their bells. from all over the world for the tomb of Taub Eizik Izsák, a scholar of the Churches have always been shelters for the community, even Talmud, that was considered as a rabbi of miraculous powers. if their significance changed throughout history. The Gothic The symbol of Debrecen, a city often mentioned as the Calvinist Rome, church in Kölcse is a masterpiece of rural church architec- is the largest Calvinist building in Hungary: the classicist Grand Church ture, while the one in Vámosatya bears witness to various with its impressive harmony in architecture. The church was made fa- styles and ages. The bell-tower in Lónya is considered as mous by its role in history: this is where Lajos Kossuth, the leader of the an architectural curiosity since it was built without nails. Hungarian Revolution announced the Declaration of Independence (from The medieval frescoes in the seven hundred year-old Cal- the Habsburg throne) on 14. April 1849. vinist church in Csaroda depict the historical events of It is also worth visiting the “Csonka” (Broken) church that was built in the past centuries. 1600. It was named after its bastioned roof of tower it received after a The church in Csengersima, built in the age of the fire and a wind-storm instead of the original onion cupola. Arpads (897-1301), is the oldest church along the The Calvinist church in Hajdúszoboszló, the biggest city of river Szamos. The Gothic church from the 14th cen- spas, was built on foundations from the 15th century, and tury in Csenger with its bricks burnt red and its castle wall is the most important historical monument black is an aesthetic curiosity. of the city. The Roman Catholic church on Bocskai Street The most important sight in Sonkád is is famous for its frescoes depicting the history of the a Gothic Calvinist church from the 15th town and its spas. As an Archbishop of Krakow, Karol century that received the Europa Nostra Wojtyla visited the town, a man who became known Prize in 1998. around the world as John Paul II. The Greek Catholic The 35 metres tall wooden bell-tower community, that consist of a few hundred people, has of the Calvinist church in Zsurk built a new church in Byzantine style on Szilfákalja is a unique sight in the area. The Street just recently. Calvinist church in Tákos with its Nyíracsád had been inhabited before the Hungarian mud-and-doub walls and lively coffered Conquest (at the end of the 9th century), but its first ceiling was built in 1766. written record dates back to 1338, and the late Roman, The late Gothic church in Nyírbátor, early Gothic church in the centre was built in the 13th that also serves as a concert hall, was century. The interior of the church is decorated by three built by István Báthori, prince of Transyl- layers of frescoes from the 14th, the 15th and vania, and it is famous for its lacy net vault that seems to levitate twenty metres high. Calvinist Church – Zsurk 4 cyanmagentayellowblack the 17th centuries. This church is the only one from the age of the Arpads in Hajdú-Bihar County that still functions.