Kiskunfelegyhaza Tourist Attractions
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Kiskunfélegyháza lies in the heart of the region between the Danube and Tisza rivers and is the historical center of Little Cumania. Having been laid waste by the Turks in the 16th C, it was 1774 before the town flourished once more; in that year it was granted its municipal charter and thenceforth developed into a thriving commercial town with increasing industry.This historical area of land between the Danube and the Tisza on the Hungarian Plain was named after the Turkish-speaking nomadic people, the Cumans, who originally came from the steppes of southern Russia.Driven out by the Mongols in the early 13th C, Cuman tribes found their way on to the Hungarian Plain and, after being converted to Christianity, gradually became integrated with the Magyars. In the 19th C, Little Cumania (Kiskunság) became one of the major agricultural regions and earned the name of "The Fruit Garden of Hungary". Most of the people are still engaged in agriculture, although in the late 1960s oil and natural gas were discovered here and the chemical, plastic and textile industries became attracted to Little Cumania.
Kiskunfélegyháza Town Hall
Few towns in Hungary can boast of a town hall as imposing and original as that in Kiskunfélegyháza. Designed by József Vass and built in 1911 in the center of the town, it - together with the town hall in Kecskemét - can claim to be the most beautiful example of Hungarian art nouveau architecture.The rich floral ornamentation on the false gable-ends of the main façade is copied from the designs found in rural Hungarian folk-art, such as those seen on the embroidered cloaks and jackets worn by the shepherds. This ornamentation, together with the colorful majolica roof-tiles made in the Pécs Zsolnay factory, give the otherwise somewhat severe building a more cheerful note.
Little Cumania Museum
The ethnographic and local history collections of the Kiskun Múzeum are now on display in the Baroque building of 1753, formerly the headquarters of the military command of Little Cumania. In view of its earlier function as a jail, the courtyard wing has been made into a prison museum. The exhibits on display here, such as instruments of torture, are a reminder of the time when bandits and robbers made the Great Hungarian Plain a dangerous place to live. Well worth seeing is the still functioning windmill dating from 1860 which now stands in the museum courtyard.
Swan House
Between 1820 and 1830 the father of the great Hungarian writer Sándor Petofi was the landlord of an inn in the Classical building. Today it is an arts center. Although he spent his childhood here, Sandor Petofi was in fact born in Kiskorös, 30km (19mi.) west of Kiskunfélegyháza.
Church of Our Lady
The Baroque church of Our Lady, built in 1744-52, has Rococo side-altars and pulpit, as well as an 18th C plait style font. The old tower collapsed and was replaced by a new one in 1770.
