Szeged - Dom tér

A unique example of the Expressionist town architecture of the early 20th C is the complex situated around the cathedral square in the south of the inner town. The starting point is the votive church (cathedral) on the north side of the square, built 1913-29, followed by the development of the Dom" tér to plans by Béla Rerrich (1881-1932). The horseshoe-shaped complex of buildings with a façade of fired and glazed clinker brick consists of the administrative offices of the university and the theological college in the west wing, the bishop's palace in the southwest and the science and medical institutes in the south and east.

On the ground floor the round arched arcades of the three-storied wings open out onto the Dom tér. The severe, almost oppressive, monumentality of the 300m (984ft) long row of arcades is only mitigated by the different shaped columns (the Baroque style columns are especially beautiful). Below the arcades is the so-called "Szeged Pantheon", a collection of 89 busts and reliefs of important personalities from Hungarian history, art, literature and science. The eminent Hungarian sculptor Alajos Stróbl laid the foundations for this "gallery of fame" with his portraits. Since the completion of the cathedral square, the Szeged open air games, at which over 6000 people can take part in each event, have been held annually against the imposing background of the Votive Church (the steps to the main doorway serve as a stage).