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Almost everybody knows
something about it, but few truly know it. And whilst many
non-Hungarians are familiar with the words paprika, puszta (the
Hungarian name for the Great Plain), csárda (the traditional
roadside inn) and csikós (the traditional horseman), only those
who have visited this very special land can appreciate their
true meaning. A land of empty horizons, a land of riches.
Europe’s largest grass plain and most extensive salt lakes and
salt marshes conceal treasures that can be seen nowhere else.
The horsemen entertain the visitor with bravura displays and
tricks but have a deep understanding, inherited from their
ancestors, of their animals. The wooden carvings of the
shepherds are museum pieces, but if you are determined, you can
find the descendants of those carvers still at work.
The inns
will offer the visitor every modern comfort and convenience, but
the walls and furnishings speak of the past. In those days such
wayside inns were the meeting place for shepherds and herdsmen
permanently on the move with their animals. They were also used
by the legendary highwaymen, regarded as thieves by the
authorities but as heroes and defenders of the poor by the local
people. Some of these wayside inns were built straddling county
borders. The limit of the ranger’s jurisdiction was the county
border, so a fugitive had only to walk from one side of the room
to the other to reach the safety of the next county.
The Great Plain is home to many legends, and also to many
legendary sights. Its largest constituent part is the Hortobágy,
which includes the Lake Tisza Bird Sanctuary, a UNESCO World
Heritage Site. There are three National Parks. Other sights
include Europe’s largest flood-plain orchard, one of the most
important sites of pilgrimage for Greek Catholics, Central
Europe’s largest windmill, the only surviving mediaval flatland
brick-built castle, Hungary’s oldest railway station, the
world’s second largest cyclorama, and several hundred tumuli
constructed over two thousand years ago (5 to 10- metre high
man-made mounds of earth used for burials, and as camps and
look-out posts). In the west, the Plain is bordered by the River
Danube and it is cut down the middle by Hungary’s second largest
river the Tisza. But the Tisza lives quite a different sort of
life to its near neighbour the Danube. Here there is much less
commercial shipping and far more sailing for pleasure.
The Tisza
has few bridges, but many ferries; it can be crossed by ferry in
11 places, just as in the days of our great-grandparents. You
can see at a glance why it is known as the “Blonde Tisza.” The
water contains tiny, almost imperceptible grains of sand,
colouring it yellow. The naturally occurring sand and shingle
banks on the entire length of the Hungarian stretch of the river
have formed some notably fine beaches. The Great Plain enjoys
the most hours of sunshine anywhere in Hungary, and there is
also a splendid choice of well-known spa towns. According to an
old saying, even the sun likes to bathe in the thermal waters!
The sun also ripens such Hungarian specialities as the apricot
from which the pálinka (apricot brandy) is made in Kecskemét,
and paprika, our most important spice, without which there would
be no Gyula sausage, Pick salami, pörkölt stew, fish soup or
goulash. Another of the region’s specialities is the distinctive
Makó onion. In the town of Makó they have even erected a
building in its honour: the Onion House functions as a community
hall, cultural centre and house of Thalia. Those who like fruit
should taste Szatmár plums and Szabolcs apples: they are
delicious both fresh and as pálinka or jam. In the autumn nut
season it is also worth trying Milota nuts, renowned for their
paper-thin shells, and for the fact that at the beginning of the
nineteenth century they were traded on the Vienna Exchange.
There isn’t another comparable area in Hungary for special
events and festivals connected with indigenous food and drink.
There are fish-soup festivals (in Baja and Szeged), cheese and
culinary festivals (Gyomaendrőd and Kistelek), a plum jam
cooking contest (Szatmárcseke), a sausage festival (Békéscsaba),
goulash festival (Szolnok), and an onion festival (Makó), quite
apart from various wine festivals.
Only those who insist on high mountains will not feel at home on
the Great Plain. Everyone else is assured a truly life-enriching
experience.
Hungarian National Tourist Office
www.hungary.com |
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Gyula Castle
Debrecen, Reformed Great Church
Szeged, Klauzál Square
Kecskemét, Ornamental Palace (Cifrapalota)
Kalocsa Cathedral |
