Debrecen

Having functioned continuously as an educational institution since its establishment in 1538, the college is the cradle of Hungarian civilization Designated as a national monument in 2013, it also features a museum that has permanent exhibits displaying the school’s history, student life, and the religious art of the Reformed Church in the Trans-Tisza Region. Your visit here will help you understand why Debrecen became the most important bastion of the Reformed faith in Hungary. Bedecked with majestic murals, the building’s stairwell leads to the entrance of the gigantic library storing more than 600,000 volumes, the Csokonai Room and the Oratory that housed Hungary’s National Assembly in 1849.

The Déri Museum is one of Hungary’s foremost establishments of its kind. In addition to its exhibits of local cultural interest, it has become renowned for the huge collection of items, brought together by Frigyes Déri, which represents various aspects of universal human civilization. The museum’s main attractions are the awe-inspiring Christ-paintings of Mihály Munkácsy. The museum opened a new permanent exhibit in 2015, whereas in the Lajos Zoltai Hall temporary exhibits will be on display. The group of four statues by Ferenc Medgyessy, erected outside the main building, was awarded the Grand Prize at the 1937 Paris Exposition.

Built in Baroque and Louis Seize style, the church was elevated to cathedral rank by Pope John Paul II in 1993. A certified replica of the Turin Shroud has been on display in the building since 2011. 2015 has been designated as Catholic Memorial Year, to mark the tercentenary of the movement started to reorganize practices and activities of the Catholic faithful in Debrecen.

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 opened there to display the history of Debrecen’s Jewish community, its life, faith and traditions. The Holocaust memorial in the yard of the Orthodox synagogue was dedicated in June 2015, commemorating the victims from Debrecen. The names of six thousand local Jews who perished in the Holocaust, during forced labor, in concentration camps or in the ghetto, were carved into the memorial wall made of concrete and black metal. Erected in 1909 in Kápolnás Street, the synagogue “status quo ante” shares a plot with the former Jewish High School (now Youth Center). The Orthodox synagogue was built in Pásti Street in 1894. On 26 April 2015, the synagogue was re-opened in its full beauty, and now serves multiple purposes within the community: it is not only a sacred space but a touristic attraction, a conference center and a public venue as well. BEIT HAMIDRASH Built in the 1910s, the Beit Hamidrash is nowadays the site of the daily sermons of the community, except during the time of the big holidays. ORTHODOX MIKVAH Located in the basement of the winter tabernacle at Pásti Street, the old mikvah is to become a kosher winery and exhibition area upon being restored. HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL The monumental concrete wall was designed by young aspiring architects and since the summer of 2015, it has been standing proudly to remind everybody of the little more than 6000 Holocaust victims that were from Debrecen. BUTCHERY The butchery, used for its designated purpose up until the 1980s, is nowadays an excellent exhibition and resting area. KÁPOLNÁSI SYNAGOGUE Built between 1909-1910, the “small” church, which is able to accommodate 600 people, has recently been renovated. The synagogue is used for religious purposes on the big Jewish holidays but it has hosted cultural happenings of different kinds on several occasions. PILGRIMS' HOSTEL The Jewish community provides accommodation for visitors at the reconditioned community center. DEBRECEN JEWISH CEMETERY Since 1842, the cemetery of the Debrecen community has been open to the public at its original location at Monostorapályi Street and has been part of the same organization.

One of the nation’s five research universities, UD celebrated its centenary in 2012. 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.

Nagyerdei Park is the home of Hungary’s most modern sports arenas. The brand new, state-of-the-art arena, Nagyerdei Stadium, was inaugurated in 2014. With a seating capacity of 20,000, it promises to become a fantastic venue of competitive team events and individual training sessions as well as concerts and other programs of cultural interest. The stadium’s unique architectural features boast a spectacular “suspension sidewalk.” Complete with a running track, the 1,100-m-long structure skirts the entire building at a height of several meters. This will make joggers feel that they do altitude training smack in the middle of the flattest region in Hungary.