Szeged

The first mention of Szeged comes from ancient times, and Ptolemy mentions the oldest name of the city - Partiscum. It is possible that this area also housed the seat of the ruler of the Huns of Attila.

The name Szeged was first mentioned in 1183 in a document of King Béla III. In the second half of the century, there was a Roman commercial staff on the island of Tisza, and the foundations of the castle in Szeged suggest that the building could have been built on the site of the fort. Only one corner fragment of the castle has survived to this day.

During the Mongol invasion, the city was destroyed, and its inhabitants fled to nearby swamps, but soon returned and rebuilt their city. In the fourteenth century, during the reign of Louis the Great, Szeged became the most important city in southern Hungary, and as the Turkish armies approached Hungary - Szeged's strategic importance increased. King Sigismund of Luxembourg built a high wall around the city for defense.

In 1498, Szeged obtained the status of a royal city. Szeged was first attacked by the Turkish army on 28 September 1526, but it was only seized in 1543 and became the administrative center of the Ottomans. The city was freed from Turkish authorities on 23 October 1686 and regained its free royal position in 1715. In 1719 Szeged received a coat of arms from Charles III (used today). Over the next few years, Szeged developed and new perspectives opened up.

In the city between 1728 and 1744 witch trials were carried out, which were initiated by the authorities as a means to remove the problem of public complaints about drought and their effects - hunger and epidemics of diseases in the city, placing responsibility on the people among them who fraternized with the devil.

The citizens of Szeged played an important role in the Hungarian revolution in 1848. Lajos Kossuth gave a famous speech here. Szeged was the last seat of the revolutionary government in July 1849. The Habsburg rulers punished the city leaders, but later Szeged began to succeed and the city obtained the status of a royal city in 1860.

There was a great flood in 1879, which literally erased the entire city from the map of Hungary (only 265 out of 5723 houses remained and 165 people died). Emperor Franz Joseph visited the city and promised that "Szeged would be more beautiful than before" and kept his promise. In the following years, a new, modern city emerged from ruins, with palaces and wide streets that we know today.

After World War I, Hungary lost its southern territory of Romania and Serbia, as a result of which Szeged became a border town and its importance diminished, but when it took over roles that previously belonged to lost cities, it slowly regained its lost position. Kolozsvár University (now Cluj-Napoca, Romania) moved to Szeged in 1921. In 1923, Szeged took over the function of bishop's seat from Temesvár (nowadays Timişoara, Romania). In the 1920s the Jewish population increased dynamically and reached the highest level in history.

Szeged suffered greatly during World War II. 6,000 city residents were killed, Jewish citizens were imprisoned in ghettos, then they were sent to death camps. The Soviet army occupied the city at the end of 1944.

During communism era, Szeged became a center of light and food industry. Oil was found around the city in 1965. Currently, this area corresponds to 67% of the country's oil demand. In 1962, Szeged became the seat of Csongrád. Whole new districts were created, and many nearby cities (e.g. Tápé, Szőreg, Kiskundorozsma, Szentmihálytelek, Gyálarét) were incorporated into the city in 1973. Today Szeged is an important university city and a popular tourist attraction.

The most important monument of Szeged and at the same time a symbol is the Votive Church House Templom built in years 1913-1930. The church was built in the neo-Roman style, and its characteristic two towers with a height of 93 meters today tower over the entire city. The church was built on the initiative of the inhabitants in thanks for saving from the great flood at the end of the 19th century. Right next to the church is the third tower - the tower of Saint Demetrius, which is a remnant of a thirteenth-century temple. To build the church, many old town houses were demolished, which resulted in the creation of Square House with an area of 12,000. m2.

To the south of the Cathedral Square there is a small Martyrs' Square from under Arad, next to the Gate of Heroes. The Town Hall is built at Széchenyi square, which is actually a small park in the very center of Szeged. Walking in the shade of trees, you can admire sculptures set up in small free spaces, surrounded by flower beds.

A valuable place in the city is the Jewish district. First of all, you can find here some beautiful religious buildings. The most important is certainly the New Synagogue, considered one of the most beautiful in Europe and the most beautiful in Hungary. It is extremely colorful, rich in symbols and fabulous details. A few steps further, at 12 Hajnóczy Street, there is a romantic Orthodox synagogue in which alternative performances take place from time to time, including the Thealter summer festival. The Ujszeged recreation and residential district is more contemporary. At the outlet of the Downtown Bridge, there is Elisabeth Park with an amphitheater, tennis courts, beer gardens and an amusement park. North of the square, along the Közép Kikötő street, there are green areas with thermal baths and beautiful riverside beaches.

MUSEUMS

The Ferenc Móra Museum is located at the Tisza wharf, in a beautiful neoclassical building from 1896, but its history dates back to 1879 - the year of a great flood. The museum was rebuilt many times and the collection was moved. Currently, the most interesting exhibitions are collections of paintings associated with the Great Plain region (especially the monumental canvas depicting the flood of 1879) and a small, but extremely rich in exhibits exhibition "They called themselves Avars" - depicting the life of the first tribes living around the city. In addition to the aforementioned museum in Szeged, there are several other places of this type. The "Black House" Museum presents the ethnographic collection of the region from the late nineteenth century. You can also find here several art exhibitions, the Windmill, the Museum of Theater History, and the Pepper Museum.

Szeged is known as a city of cultural and sport events. Szeged Museum of History - Ferenc Mora Museum, is visited annually by about 350 thousand. tourists. In addition, Szeged boasts numerous galleries, clubs, a theater and a huge library that has a rich collection (about 1 million) of volumes, including in English, German and French. In the summer, lovers of relaxation and all arts are attracted by numerous events taking place in various places, e.g. Bridge Fair, Wine Festival, concerts in front of the Votive Church, which usually attract about 4,000. artists from around the world.

CUISINE

Szeged is known as the "home of peppers" - most spices are produced here from dried, powdered pepper fruits. Peppers came to Hungary in the second half of the 16th century as an ornamental plant. About 100 years later, the plant was grown as a herb. Szeged is also known for its szekelygulyas - pork stew, cabbage and sour cream. They are also known for halászlé - carp and catfish fish soup.

Szeged is a university city. In 1921, the University of Kolozsvár was moved from today's Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca, which was founded in 1872. Currently, the University of Szeged is one of the most important universities in Hungary and educates students at 11 different faculties. Among others, these are the faculties of: Agriculture, Health Care, Food Sciences, Philology, Economics, Law and Administration, Medical, Music, Pharmaceutical, Natural Sciences and the Gyula Juhász Faculty of Education. Has a rich, specialized library, in which there are approx. 138 thousand items for books and periodicals. It is worth mention that the university library has a direct connection to the European medical database.

Representatives of the City of Łódź took part in the celebrations of the Day of the City of Szeged, which took place from 16-18 May. The event included a number of cultural and artistic events as well as presentations of partner cities during the Forum, at which breaking points in the history of partner cities were presented. The event took place in connection with the 300th Jubilee this year - the anniversary of granting Szeged the "Freedom Card" by King Charles III.

The  between Łódź and Szeged took place on 27 September 2018 at the NOVOTEL Łódź Centrum hotel. The ceremony was conducted by dr Pal Atilla Illes, deputy Ambassador of the Republic of Hungary in Poland. The main purpose of the event was to strengthen Polish-Hungarian economic, academic and cultural cooperation. The ceremony was accompanied by a business seminar combined with a tasting of Hungarian cuisine.

Łódź and Szeged are celebrating the 10th anniversary of partnership. On this occasion, from 24 to 27 May this year representatives of the City of Łódź, headed by the Deputy Mayor Krzysztof Piątkowski, took part in the Festival of Partner Cities in Szeged.

The event inaugurating the Festival of Twin Cities was the Forum of Innovation and Intelligent Solutions, which was held at the Agóra Culture Center. Participants of the meeting presented cities, with particular emphasis on issues of innovation and sustainable development.

On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of cooperation, a ceremonial unveiling of the tram with the symbolic inscription "Łódź" was carried out, which will move through the streets of Szeged. Then the tram with guests of the ceremony set off on an inaugural trip around the city.

The "Master and apprentice" exhibition was solemnly opened in the Ferenc Móra Museum, at which the works of the winners of art competition "The uniqueness of my city" were presented. Youth and teachers from Szeged and partner cities presented their cities through any form of artistic expression. At the exhibition one could admire the works of the pupils of the photography studio of the Julian Tuwim Palace of Youth in Łódź. Weronika Materka received a gold medal in the photography category for the photo presenting the Museum of Art in Łódź, which was a great success.

One of the main attractions of the Festival of the City of Szeged is the Bridge Fair (Hídvásár), organized on the Belvarosi Bridge and the streets of the old town. Traditional regional products are presented on several hundred piles. Tens of thousands of Szeged residents and tourists visited the fair. Łódź, along with other partner cities, presented tourist attractions and a cultural offer at its own stand.

On the last day, delegations from Łódź and other partner cities went to the zoo, where the Mayor of Szeged solemnly opened a modern elephant hall with a catwalk.

From 21 to 24 May, the annual festival of our partner city - Szeged - took place. The programme included, among others, the ceremonial opening of the City for residents and tourists, a solemn session of the City Council, at which meritorious citizens were honored for promoting Szeged culture.

In addition, tourist fairs took place at which the tourist and cultural offer of Łódź was presented to the residents of Szeged and representatives of Szeged's partner cities (including Darmstadt, Cambridge, Shanghai, Odesa, Nice). The Łódź stand stood out from the others thanks to the rich tourist offer, which was confirmed by the opinions of visitors and representatives of the partner cities of Szeged. The Łódź for Weekend or Business Tourism offer was extremely popular, in addition Piotrkowska Street as the longest pedestrian street in Poland and Manufaktura, which is an indispensable example of a revitalized cultural and commercial center.

In Szeged, the annual City Festival was held. The programme also included "Afternoon with Julian Tuwim". At a specially organized meeting prepared by the City of Łódź Office (in cooperation with the Honorary Consulate of the Republic of Poland in Szeged), high school students and primary school children introduced the meeting's participants to the world of Julian Tuwim's poetry. Among the poems recited in Hungarian were, among others, fragments of "Polish Flowers" and children's poetry. The director of the Promotion, Tourism and International Cooperation Office, Bartłomiej Wojdak, handed everyone on behalf of the Mayor Hanna Zdanowska, congratulatory diplomas and small gifts. In addition, four participants were invited to visit Łódź in September to celebrate the poet's birthday.

The students gave presentation at the Karoly Somogyi City Library in Szeged, which is one of the largest libraries in Europe. It has an extremely rich collection (about 1 million) volumes. Much of the works are unique from different eras, containing chronicles of European countries.

A delegation of the city authorities of Szeged and two other Hungarian cities attended the conference under the Europe for Citizens Program. During the conference the issues of European citizenship andraising awareness of the local community were raised. The aim of the project is to awaken the awareness of the inhabitants - especially the younger generation - how to live and engage socially in the EU.

The delegation from Szeged also had the opportunity to learn about the city's projects, i.e. EC1 - New Center of Łódź, or take part in the birthday of Julian Tuwim and the Tuwim picnic.

Children and youth from Szeged and Odesa visited Łódź. Trip to our city was the main prize in the poetry competition of Julian Tuwim. The participants visited, among others Piotrkowska Street, Manufaktura, EC-1, Fairy Tale Museum and many other attractions.

The winners of the competition also met with the Mayor, who personally congratulated them on their prize, told about the history of Łódź, encouraged them to continue learning Polish language, learning about literature, but also about art from Łódź.

The Parliament of the Republic of Poland, in accordance with a resolution adopted by the Parliament of the Republic of Hungary, by decision of March 16, 2007 declared March 23 Day of Polish-Hungarian Friendship.
Thanks to the decision of both nations, Friendship Day creates the possibility of joint annual celebration, and its central celebrations are alternately celebrated one year in Poland and the next in Hungary, deepening and strengthening the friendship of our countries, enabling meetings of representatives of partner cities.
on 23 March official ceremonies were held in the Csongrad province: in Szeged and Ópusztaszer, where in the Park of National Remembrance at the monument of Árpád, with the participation of the highest state authorities of Poland and Hungary, the official part of the festival took place. The delegation of Poznań - the host of last year's celebrations - gave the traditional flag of Friendship Day to the authorities of the Csongrad province.

In Szeged, President Bronisław Komorowski received the title of honorary doctorate of the Szeged University. The presidents of Poland and Hungary laid flowers at the Katyn Cross at the Szeged Cathedral and took part in the Polish-Hungarian mass, which was co-chaired by Fr. Karol Kozłowski, rector of the Polish Parish in Hungary. Mr. Tadeusz Kaczor, Honorary Consul of Hungary in Łódź was awarded the Officer's Cross of the Order of Hungary.

Thanks to the cooperation with the Polish Embassy in Hungary, many interesting accompanying events have been prepared, including meeting of Nobel Prize winners and academic youth, presentation of Polish culture and art. There was a week of Polish film, concerts of youth bands, Polish-Hungarian dance days, presentations of Polish gastronomy and tourist attractions of Poland.

The ceremony was attended by Ms Elżbieta Królikowska-Kińska, Deputy Chairman of the City Council together with representatives of the Office of Promotion, Tourism and International Cooperation of the City of Łódź.

The delegation from Łódź took part in the Tourist Fair and the Day of Szeged City. During the Fair, Łódź presented itself as a multicultural city with rich traditions and many tourist attractions. Talks were taken regarding student exchange with Szeged.

A group of 4 dancers, that presented modern dance, participated in the 3rd International Dance Festival in Łódź, at the invitation of the City of Łódź Office, organized by the Impresario Agency IGO-ART and City of Łódź Office.

The delegation from Łódź took part in the Tourist Fair and the Day of the the City of Szeged. The deputy Mayor Halina Rosiak met, among others with Deputy Mayor Laszlo Solymos. The Bridge Fair is also part of the Szeged Days - at this tourist event (held according to the name on the bridge) a Łódź stand also appeared, at which the tourist attractions of Łódź, as well as cultural and educational offer were presented.