Itinerary
This 4-hour private tour explores the hidden Art Nouveau treasures of Szeged, Hungary’s third-largest city and the vibrant hub of the Southern Great Plain. Whether you start your journey in Szeged itself or arrange transportation from Budapest, this experience promises a rich immersion into the city’s architectural wonders and history.
Your journey begins in the heart of Szeged at the main square, directly across from the stunning Ungar-Mayer Palace. This picturesque starting point sets the stage for a leisurely yet insightful exploration. During this Exclusive Private Tour, you will discover five of the most captivating buildings, including:
- The New Synagogue has been recently open to the public after a long renovation process of years. It has a grandiose and beautiful cupola. According to experts, this is one of the most beautiful synagogues in Europe. Whereas, the dome interior and stained glass windows represent the most delicate variant of the Art Nouveau decorative mentality. We ask our men visitors to be so kind and wear hat or cap in the synagogue. Its majestic dome was designed by Miksa Róth.
- Reök Palace facade represents a rare, organic version of the Art Nouveau. Despite his young age, the architect Ede Magyar created an amazing building for the hydraulics engineer Iván Reök, a wealthy and highly literatured patron. Ede Magyar died prematurely, shooting himself on 5 May, 1912. The Reök palace might remind you of Antoni Gaudí houses in Barcelona, buildings built around the same time in history.
- In the luxurious Gróf Palace the architect Ferenc Raichl J. recreated the Art Nouveau spatial formation and ornamenting solutions which he had employed on his Subotica residence. We can appreciate motifs from Hungarian folk art and ceramic wall ornaments beside the blue, yellow and golden decoration on the facade evoking the atmosphere of the East.
- “The Old Lady,” a historic water tower from 1904, offering panoramic views and insight into its continued role in providing water to the city. If possible on the day of the tour you will climb it up.
- Your private guide will give you access to a private residential building’s original lobby and elevator from the early 1900s, a rare glimpse into the city’s past.
As you stroll through Szeged, you’ll encounter other architectural gems like the Deutsch Palace, Móricz House, Ungar, Mayer Palace, Marer House, Beregi House and other. Each building tells a story, and your guide will reveal fascinating details about their design, history, and significance.
As your guide leads you through Szeged’s city center, you’ll see how its wide streets and grand buildings emerged from the devastation of the great flood of 1879. Following Emperor Franz Joseph’s promise that “Szeged will be more beautiful than it used to be,” the city was transformed into a modern, picturesque destination.
Led by a licensed private guide and one of Szeged’s foremost Art Nouveau experts, this walking tour offers a personalized and deeply engaging experience. Perfect for lovers of history, architecture, and local culture, it’s an ideal way to uncover the beauty and heritage of Szeged.
Tailored to your interests
Where the private tour Begins and Ends
We will start and end the tour in the main square or bus station if you are traveling from outside the city.
Exclusions
Entrance fees to museums and attractions are not included in the tour price and will depend on your chosen itinerary, as our guide will tailor the experience to your interests. Highlights may include the Synagogue in Szeged, open Sunday to Friday (closed on Saturdays, Mondays, and Jewish festivals), the Reök Palace (closed on Mondays) with its stunning Art Nouveau exterior and interior staircase, and the historic Water Tower (closed on Sundays).
Food and drinks are optional. We often begin the private tour with a drink at a terrace café in Szeged’s main square, a perfect spot to admire the Art Nouveau charm, especially the Ungar-Mayer Palace. Alternatively, the tour can start directly with a walk.
Your private tour will make all the best to adjust the itinerary so you can visit the inside of the three places taking into account the different opening hours of the places included in the visit.
If you want to visit Szeged from Budapest we can bring you there in a private tour that will also include places like the city of Kecskemét, situated half way between Budapest and Szeged. This private tour is a must for anyone interested in Art Nouveau and with interest in discover how this style developed in the Hungarian Plains. CLICK HERE for more information about this alternative private tour.
Additional Information
Art Nouveau – Secession Style
Szeged is an Art Nouveau hidden gem not usually found in the traditional itineraries but key to understand the history of Art Nouveau and a pleasure to visit. The same happens with Subotica, a nearby city located inside Serbia. Read this article where these two cities are mentioned as art nouveau hidden gems. Szeged is an old city and played an important role in the transportation and distribution of the salt mined in Transylvania in the 12th Century.
In 1879, Szeged, a prosperous town of 60,000 near the Serbian border and 174 km from Budapest, was devastated by a catastrophic flood known as “The Big Water.” When a dike on the Tisza River burst in spring, nearly the entire settlement was destroyed, leaving only 300 houses standing. This natural disaster spurred an architectural rebirth, leading to an Art Nouveau boom. Over the following years, the city was almost entirely rebuilt, resulting in a harmonious cityscape of leafy squares and elegant ring boulevards that endure to this day.
The post-flood reconstruction determined Szeged’s present-day urban character by creating a layout of boulevards and avenues and by building impressive palaces. Thanks to the large scale constructions in the prevailing Eclectic style, the city had been reborn by the late-19th century.
At the beginning of the 20th century the city center had almost been built over and only some vacant corners and a few other lots remained empty. The wealthy and highly educated upper class coupled with the bank capital hungry for investments welcomed Art Nouveau and filled these vacant sites with amazing Art Nouveau buildings, hidden gems of Art Nouveau.
Almost 50 Art Nouveau buildings were built in a short decade in Szeged, most of them apartment buildings and residences with splendid façades and interiors. In just a decade various styles within Art Nouveau are represented in the city: Folk Arts, Vienna and Berlin Secession influence, to say some.
Art Nouveau had became a fashion all over in Europe in the early 1900’s. Of course not everywhere was able to create the same amount of architecture beauties, like in Vienna, or in Barcelona, however, citizens enjoyed the new style as much as they could afford it for themselves. Farther from the main capital areas, smaller cities towns also had their chances to make their city centers more beautiful with the new artistic examples that came from the big cities.
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