Page 240 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Hungary

238  HUNGAR Y REGION B Y REGION THE GREA T PLAIN  239

almost all the houses remain manuscripts, codices and books, way into the park is via
occupied today. However, many the earliest dating from 1040. Nagybugac. This village is a
are used only as summer or At the House of Folk Arts worthy attraction in itself,
holi day homes. Others offer wine (Népművészeti Tájház), the local with its fascinating horse­riding
tasting and accommodation. craft society displays and sells displays. The Bugac Stud Farm
The St Orbán Wine Festival its colourful wares in a (Bugaci Ménes) just outside
in May, celebrated to honour traditional Puszta cottage. the village puts on daily shows.
the guardian saint of grape These may, however, be
growers and winemakers, is E Paprika Museum cancelled if there are too few
the village’s annual highlight. Szent István király út 6. Tel (78) 46 18 spectators; it is best to book
As many as 20,000 visitors 60. Open Apr–Oct: 9am–5pm Tue– an organized tour (www.
attend the wine tastings, horse Sun. & 8 Hun garian only. 7 bugacpuszta.hu). Not to be
shows, craft markets and folk E House of Folk Arts missed are the per formances
dancing displays. Tompa Mihály utca 5–7. Tel (78) 46 of the legendary Puszta Fiver,
15 60. Open mid­Apr–mid­Oct: where one man – usually with One of many birdwatching towers
3 Kalocsa 10am–5pm Tue–Sun. & a moustache as long as his whip in Kiskunság National Park
The Fish Soup Festival in Baja, a record-breaking soup-cooking contest 8 Hungarian only. 7 – rides five horses simultaneously
1 Baja The beaches on Petőfisziget, 120 km (74 miles) south of Budapest. (see box below). Visitors can ride great bustards, herons and
spoonbills can be seen. The
one of the many thoroughbreds
Road Map C5. * 19,000. £ from
the island in the middle of the Kiskőrös. @ from Budapest, Kiskőrös. at the stables themselves, and unparalleled flora and fauna in
100 km (62 miles) west of Szeged.
Road Map C5. * 36,000. £ from Danube, serve as Baja’s summer 4 Danube cruisers. ( daily. join a day­long horseback­tour the reeds and marshes around
Budapest. @ from Budapest, Kalocsa. playground, offering sailing, _ Kalocsa Paprika Festival (mid-Sep). of the surrounding area. the lake include rare species of
n Tourinform, Szent háromság tér 5, water-skiing, fishing and other Nagybugac’s tiny Herds men’s orchid, as well as otters, weasels,
(79) 42 07 92. ( fish market Tue–Sun. leisure activities. The island is A popular stop for Danube Museum (Bugaci Pásztor­ water snakes, turtles and lizards.
_ Fish Soup Festival (Bajai Halfőző reached via a foot bridge from cruise ships, Kalocsa is at the múzeum) exhibits a small The Fülöp háza with its
Fesztivál, 2nd weekend in Jul). Szentháromság tér. centre of Hungary’s paprika- collection of folk art, costumes shifting sand dunes is a unique
growing region. There is a and tools but most visitors to environment in the park and
This wealthy town, long E Türr István Museum paprika harvest festival here Nagybugac are merely passing is the habitat of hoopoes,
populated by a large Serb Deák Ferenc utca 1. Tel (79) 32 41 every September and what through on their way to the golden orioles and bee­eaters.
minority, is dominated by 73. Open 10am–4pm Tue–Sat. & is perhaps the world’s only park. The village is the gateway Trails around the dunes begin at
its large public square, 8 7 ∑ bajaimuzeum.hu Paprika Museum (Fűszer paprika to the largest area of the park, the village of Fülöp háza, 30 km
Szenthár omság tér, one side Mú zeum). On display are jars the Bugac – a vast 100­sq­km (19 miles) west of Kecskemét.
of which opens onto the 2 Hajós of the spice, in an astonishing Early machinery at the Paprika Museum (39­sq­mile) expanse of grass­
Danube. Baroque 18th-century number of different varieties. in Kalocsa land, marshes, freshwater lakes G Bugac Stud Farm
town houses, one of which 21 km (13 miles) southeast of Kalocsa. One of the most important and reeds. A number of well­ Nagybugac Ménes. Tel (76) 57 50 28.
is now the town hall, line the Road Map D5. * 3,600. @ from buildings in Kalocsa is the marked nature trails start at Open daily. & 7 for horse shows, it
other three sides. The square Kalocsa. ( craft market during the cathedral, a twin-towered 4 Kiskunság the park entrance. is advisable to book in advance with
plays host every July to the St Orbán Wine Festival. _ St Orbán Baroque construction from National Park Birdwatchers should head Herdsmen’s Museum.
unique Baja Fish Soup Festival, Wine Festival (last weekend in May). 1772, restored slightly after a Kiskunsági Nemzeti Park for Lake Kolon, northwest of E Herdsmen’s Museum
when hundreds of cauldrons small fire in 1816. Ferenc (Franz) the Bugac and accessible Nagybugac, Tel (76) 57 51 12.
are set up to cook the local fish In the small village of Hajós, Liszt adored the cathedral’s 25 km (16 miles) west of Kecskemét. via the village of Izsák, where Open May–Oct: 10am–6pm daily. &
stew, consisting of freshwater 1,200 tiny 18th-century houses, organ and often played here. Road Map D4. National Park Head­
quarters, House of Nature, Liszt Ferenc
fish and a very hot paprika. almost identical in size and The town owes its existence utca 19, Kecskemét, (76) 48 226 11. Csikós Horse Shows
The Türr István Museum just design, sit above 1,200 iden tical to St István, who created an Open 10am–4pm Tue–Sat. £ from
north of the square con tains wine cellars dug into the soft arch bishopric here in 1006. Kiskunfélegyháza to Bugac­felső; from The equine skill of the Hungarian cowboys (or csikósok; also csikós
a lively collection of exhibits clay below. Built by Swabians, The Archbishop’s Palace (built Kecskemét to Izsák for Lake Kolon. meaning “wrangler”), goes back as far as the first Magyar migrations
cele brating the role of the a Germanic people who settled in 1776 on the site of a medi eval @ from Kis kunféle gyháza to Bugac and was originally military in nature. The Hungarian mounted soldier
Danube in Baja’s history. Just here in the Middle Ages in order castle) today houses an amazing park entrance; from Kecskemét to typically carried light weapons and rode light horses without a saddle.
opposite stands a magnificent to make use of the fertile soil, collection of 100,000 Fülöpháza. n Tourin form Kecskemét, Today’s csikós shows contain much
Baroque Franciscan church, Kossuth tér 1, Kecskemét, (76) 48 10 65. pseudo­military posturing, usually
complete with a superb bell & 7 0 - = ∑ knp.hu beginning with a horse parade and
tower, built in 1756. salute, followed by displays of eques­
trian skill, control and dressage. What
North of the city centre is the Kiskunság is Hungary’s is unusual is the way the csikósok
late 19th-century Neo-Classical second­largest national park can make their horses walk at
Synagogue. Now a public after Hortobágy (see 256). Spread almost a crawl: a legacy of fighting
library, the Hebrew script above over 759 sq km (293 sq miles), battles in the open plains. The
the portico is one of few clues the park is divided into a highlight of these horse shows is
to its past. On Miklós utca stands number of unique natural the Puszta Fiver (pusztaötös): one
the Serb Orthodox church, habitats, which are not all man riding five horses simultan­
built at the end of the 18th interlinked. A visit to the park’s eously. The Fiver’s origins are
century and housing probably adminis tration office, in the unknown – perhaps the rider was
Hungary’s finest Orthodox Kecskemét (see pp240–43) bringing back the horses of his A horseman practising for the
iconostasis. Some 10 m (33 ft) House of Nature enables visitors dead comrades after a battle. impressive Puszta Fiver
tall, it depict s countless saints. The many small houses with wine cellars in Hajós to get their bearings. A popular
For hotels and restaurants see pp264–269 and pp276–285
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