This little town of 20,000 inhabitants, lying 20km (13mi.) southeast of Eger on the main highway between Budapest and Miskolc, is the traditional focus of the Matyós, a group of people who have long lived in Mezokövesd and the neighboring villages of Kövesd, Tard and Szentistván. Their name can be traced back to King Matthias (Mátyás), who in the 15th C raised Mezokövesd to the status of regional town. As in other ethnic enclaves (for example, the Palóc villages in the Cserhát Mountains), much emphasis is laid on preserving traditional crafts and skills.
The colorfully embroidered flowers, based on old patterns, with which the women adorn their blouses, fabrics and aprons - red on a white or black ground being particularly popular - produce some of the most beautiful articles in Hungarian folk-lore. Those wishing to take home a souvenir of their visit to the Matyó region are recommended to pay a visit to the Matyó House at Béke tér No. 2, which contains the workshops and salerooms of the Folk Art Society.
The house at Mogyoró köz 4, dating from the second half of the 19th C, has been furnished in its original style. Similar houses can be found at Kis Jankó Bori utca 12 and 21, in Anna Köz, Diófa utca and Kökény köz.
In the Matyó Museum, visitors can admire embroidered traditional costumes from the Matyó villages. These include a long, bell-shaped dress and a colorfully-stitched apron worn by both men and women. Other colorful embroidery work can be seen in the Bori Kis Jankó Museum, in a thatched house in Bori Kis Jankó street.
These spa baths lie in a well-tended park on the edge of the town. Medicinal waters, containing carbonic acid, iodine and sulfur, surge to the surface from a depth of 875m (2870ft) at an incipient temperature of 71°C (160°F), and then cool down to about 40°C (100°F).
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