The past surrounds us: historic sites to visit around Szeged

Just a few kilometres from Szeged, there is a National Heritage Park in Ópusztaszer where over the course of a few hours you can travel back in time to see what the Hungarian conquest was like and how our ancestors lived in yurts 1,000 years ago. The main landmark in the Heritage Park is the Árpád Memorial, which was erected in 1896 to commemorate the Hungarians’ very first National Assembly. The round building of the Rotunda houses the main attraction of Ópusztaszer, the Feszty Panorama. This monumental panorama is the work of painter Árpád Feszty. It is 15 metres tall and 120 metres wide. There are also a number of exciting outdoor attractions in the park, where you will see some Csete yurts, a herb garden and an open-air museum. Prepare for a four to five-hour visit, but don’t worry, time will fly by with so many things to see.

Kincsem is a horse everyone knows. The story of the legendary animal takes you back to the early 1800s, when horse breeding became a very influential industry in Hungary, not least because of horse racing. The Mezőhegyes State Stud Farm was the cradle of Hungarian horse breeding, which is why it is best to tour the place on horseback, but you can also take a fun ride around on the puszta bus. Several famous Hungarian horse breeds were bred here as a result of the painstaking work of local breeders, including the Nonius, the Gidran and the Furioso-North star breeds. In 2004, the Parliament declared these breeds national treasures.