The striking Art Nouveau architecture of Kecskemét.
Kecskemét is one of the most elegant cities in Hungary, lying in the Puszta Great Plains landscape among endless steppes and grasslands, traditional villages and farming communities. A popular destination for its many museums and superb architecture, visiting Kecskemét from Budapest makes a great day trip into this rural region, just south of the capital city, where the lifestyle is slow, simple and charming.
Hemmed by vineyards and fruit orchards, Kecskemét sits south of the Danube in the rustic heartland of Hungary, and is blessed with a striking ensemble of Baroque and Secessionist (central Europe’s answer to Art Nouveau) architecture. The masterpiece among all this beauty is the Ornamental Palace, which was built in 1901 by architect Géza Markus and is a glorious riot of multicolored tiles and undulating walls. It is home of the Kecskemét Gallery and displays of 20th-century Hungarian artworks, as well as the fantastical Decorative Hall, with intensely ornate stuccowork of plants and animals.
Something of a cultural, architectural and religious melting pot, Kecskemét has more than a dozen other museums and galleries ranging in subject from Hungarian naïve art to photography, all well worth a glimpse. They are located among majestic Baroque churches built for many different denominations, a synagogue and theater, plus an arresting yellow and salmon-pink Secessionist Town Hall.
Regarded as the garden city of Hungary, Kecskemét produces a good apricot pàlinka brandy as well as wheat and wine. The city is also the springboard into the Puszta Great Plains region, where cattle and horses graze as they have done for centuries. Untouched villages such as Bujac and Lajosmizse are famed for their horse farms and many offer displays of spectacular traditional horsemanship as well as carriage rides across the steppes for visitors. The city is also close to the juniper-covered hills, dunes and thermal spas of Kiskunság National Park.