Old City Hall

Debrecen’s symbol is one of the nation’s largest Reformed churches, a building of major historic significance. It was here that Lajos Kossuth read out the Declaration of Independence on April 14, 1849. The wing chair used by the Regent-President on that glorious occasion is one of the church’s most precious relics. The main structure has been rebuilt several times. Today’s familiar Classicist form was developed after the great fire of 1802. You can enjoy magnificent views of the city from the top of the towers, or the steel bridge behind the tympanum. If you are courageous enough to attempt the steep climb up, your added bonus will be a spectacular close-up of the 5.6-ton Rákóczi Bell. In addition to regular services, exhibits of religious history, organ concerts and other musical events are also on the schedule. The church has held the status of national monument since 2013.

Debrecen Jewish Congregation is Hungary’s largest Israelite community outside the capital. The older of Debrecen’s two surviving synagogues, the Orthodox synagogue was built in Pásti Street in the early 1880s. In 2015, a tourist and cultural center will open there to display the history of Debrecen’s Jewish community, its life, faith and traditions. Erected in 1909 in Kápolnás Street, the synagogue “status quo ante” shares a plot with the former Jewish High School (now Youth Center).

Debrecen’s Main Street - Piac Street - was the proud venue of the famous town fairs for 300 years starting in the 16th century. Today’s cityscape, however, is defined by the former merchant houses erected at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The pink office building of Debrecen’s First Savings Bank (on the corner of Kossuth Street) and the twin tenement blocks with the copper spires (on the corner of Simonffy Street) spectacularly stand out against the background of slightly gaudy downtown houses. Number 54 is occupied by Debrecen’s most beautiful Art Nouveau building now functioning as County Hall. Debrecen’s Main Street was suitable for traffic for two centuries thanks to a 650-meter-long and 6 to 7-meter wide elevated wooden walkway erected in the 1600s. A small section of the ancient “mud bridge,” now on display outside Hotel Aranybika, is a peerless archeological relic. Debrecen’s Main Square - Kossuth Square - features the iconic group of statues erected to commemorate Lajos Kossuth, the huge mosaic depicting the city’s coat of arms, made by placing together 180,000 pieces of Venetian glass, the Millennial Fountain as well as the Art Nouveau building of Hotel Aranybika. The extended walking zone that includes the square is the venue of countless summer cultural events such as the Turkey Days and Flower Parade. This is also where the city’s Christmas tree is placed at the beginning of the festive season.

Built in Classicist style, one of Debrecen’s most prominent architectural relics is the City Hall building. The city as well as the Hall played an important role in the events of the 1948/49 Revolution and War of Independence. It provided temporary headquarters for the nation’s Defense Committee. Its “chamber of the secret archives” was actually the hiding place of the Holy Crown of Hungary. Today, the edifice houses the City Assembly and the Mayor’s Office.

The original house of worship, built in 1661, was redesigned several times after it had burned down. The final structure was finished in 1876. Its onion-dome spire was destroyed by a windstorm in 1907. The builders later decided to replace it with castellated parapet. It has been dubbed by locals as Csonka (truncated) Church ever since.

One of Debrecen’s oldest streets is named after fullers and other practitioners of the wool trade who inhabited these quarters in the 15th century. The section closest to downtown is a popular shopping street and pedestrian zone. The neighborhood includes the Big Market, Flower Market, the Fórum Shopping Mall, the City Music School as well as several watering holes including Debrecen’s first “ruin pub”, the Roncs Bar. Another attractive feature is the spectacular fountain display.

MODEM is one of Central Europe’s greatest museums of modern and contemporary art. Its top-notch exhibitions and fascinating events of fine art and the attendant fields have been open to the public since 2006. Its museum-pedagogy classes provide kids with opportunities to learn about art in a fun setting.

On display at Debrecen House of Literature, the new permanent exhibit titled “Dreaming Hungarians – Stories from Debrecen’s Literary History” gives a comprehensive picture of the careers of the city’s most influential men of letters. Scheduled to open in June at Medgyessy Ferenc Memorial Museum, another permanent exhibit will present a new selection of the sculptor’s most important works.

All great cities can be identified by famous parks. In the case of Debrecen, this is called Nagyerdei Park Forest, the nation’s first conservation area. Only a ten-minute ride from downtown, the park offers total peace and quiet in the shade of hundred-year-old trees as well as countless entertainment options. You will definitely enjoy negotiating the meandering footpaths, designed by landscape architects, no matter if you explore the secrets of the woods on your own or with kids in tow. Your ventures along the trails will be made even more fun thanks to the Landart pieces, which make use of the forms and “props” of their natural environment to provide unique visual input. Should you have overexerted yourself through walking, check out the nearby spa center, zoo, amusement park, or “literary” statue park for different kinds of entertainment. Or contemplate the novel architectural techniques applied to the building of the brand new, multifunctional Nagyerdei Stadium, which smoothly cuddles up to its leafy surroundings. In the immediate vicinity, a one-of-a-kind attraction beckons from spring through fall. The “Mist Theatre” boasts a 10-m-high curtain of water which can be used as a functional movie screen. It may provide a bonus show after you watched a less ethereal theatrical or musical performance at the nearby amphitheater.

UD is one of the nation’s five research universities. The glass-ceilinged cour d’honneur of the main edifice, built in Eclectic and Neo-Baroque style, is skirted by an arcaded corridor system, whose walls are inscribed with the names of the school’s most renowned professors and former students. The fountain in the spacious French-style park in front of the building plays a special role in student tradition: Graduates are supposed to take a plunge in its pool after their finals.

UD’s Botanical Garden behind the main campus building was established in 1928 when the original garden that had belonged to the Reformed College ceased to exist. Today it keeps nearly 6,000 plant species on display. Its collection of cacti and succulent plants – with a list of 1,300 cactus and 1,000 other succulent species, one of the largest in Central and Eastern Europe – is renowned world-wide.

Agora presents serious scientific knowledge and the little wonders of everyday life in a fun and easy-to-understand way. It features more than thirty interactive games and gets visitors involved in spectacular experiments. At the top of the futuristic three-storey building, stargazers will be delighted to test the limits of the observatory taking aim at the Sun, our fellow planets and other celestial bodies.