Hungary
Kalocsa
Kalocsa: Paprika, Folk Art and an Archbishop's Town
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Arriving in Kalocsa
River ships moor at Meszes on the Danube, 5 km from Kalocsa, where two international landing stages serve the cruise ships and an information office on the riverbank helps arriving passengers. Sightseeing in town, with guides and coaches, is arranged by the travel agencies that work with the ships.
- Kalocsa lies in Bács-Kiskun County, near the left bank of the Danube, about 120 km south of Budapest.
- The main street, Szent István király út, runs from Holy Trinity Square to the bus station, and part of it has been closed to cars since 1999.
- Passenger trains to Kalocsa stopped in 2007, so the town is reached by road.
Kalocsa on Your Own
Most of Kalocsa's sights are on or near one street: from Holy Trinity Square, with the cathedral and the archbishop's palace, down Szent István király út past the museums to the light tower at the bus station. The landing at Meszes is 5 km from the center, so ask your ship or the riverbank information office about getting into town.
- Holy Trinity Square: The baroque cathedral was completed in 1774, and its interior can be visited. North of the cathedral, the archbishop's palace has frescoes by Franz Anton Maulbertsch in its chapel and ceremonial hall, and a library hall built for Archbishop Ádám Patachich.
- The Viski Károly Museum: At Szent István király út 25, it shows the history of Kalocsa and the surrounding Sárköz and how the local folk art developed.
- The Folk Art House: At Tompa Mihály utca 5, a peasant house decorated by local women painters shows how farming families lived. It opens on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from mid-March to the end of October, so check before you go.
- The light tower: Chronos 8, by the Kalocsa-born artist Nicolas Schöffer, stands in front of the bus station on Malatin tér.
- Getting back on time: All-aboard is usually about 30 minutes before sailing, and your ship posts the exact time. A ship will not wait for passengers touring on their own.
- Carry your passport: Always carry your passport in Hungary. You must show ID if the police ask for it, and a copy is not acceptable.
Paprika
Paprika is Kalocsa's crop and its emblem, and with Szeged the area around the town is the best known in Hungary for growing it. Paprika is first recorded in Kalocsa in a document of 1729.
- Paprika came to Hungary with the Turks, and 16th-century herbals called it Indian or Turkish pepper.
- Hungarian dishes such as pörkölt, gulyás and paprikás are built on it.
- The Kalocsa Aranya paprika exhibition, in the FolkArt visitor center in the town center, traces how paprika became the town's symbol, and its shop sells local paprika products alongside porcelain and folk art.
- The town holds a paprika and food festival, with cooking competitions that bring in nearby villages and schools.
Tipping and Currency
In Hungary tips are given for some services, including in restaurants, bars and taxis, and about 10 percent is usually enough. The currency is the forint (HUF), although euros are accepted at most hotels and some restaurants and shops.
- Some bars and restaurants add a 10 percent service charge, and in that case no tip is expected.
- Tips are also given to hairdressers.
Embroidery and Painted Flowers
Kalocsa folk art is known for its flower embroidery and for the flowers that local women painters put on walls and furniture. Both developed from plain beginnings into the bright colors seen today.
- The embroidery: It began as white work on linen. Colorfast thread from a mill opened in 1912 let the embroidery turn colorful after the First World War, and a machine-made openwork version, known as riseliő, followed.
- Color with meaning: Local names for the colors include tulipiros (tulip red), irigysárga (envy yellow) and vadgalambkék (wood-pigeon blue). A young bride's clothes carried the brightest work, older women's darker colors, and blue, purple and green together marked half-mourning.
- The Folk Art House: Opened on 7 June 1936 at the suggestion of the painter Lajos Gábor, it is a reed-roofed adobe house built on an earth mound about a meter high against floods, painted and furnished by local craftsmen and painting women.
- Nicolas Schöffer: The kinetic artist, born in Kalocsa in 1912 and later based in Paris, gave his life's work to his hometown in 1979. A museum at Szent István király út 76 shows it.
A Brief History
Kalocsa is among the oldest towns in Hungary, an archbishop's seat since the founding of the kingdom around 1000. Ottoman rule scattered its people in the 16th and 17th centuries, and the present cathedral and archbishop's palace date from the 18th.
- Around 1000: King Stephen founded the archbishopric, and its first archbishop, Asztrik, is said to have brought Stephen his crown from the Pope. The archbishopric dates from between 1002 and 1005 and has continued ever since.
- 11th to 13th centuries: A first cathedral was built in the years after 1000, and a much larger late Romanesque to early Gothic cathedral followed in the 13th century.
- 1241 and 1526: Archbishop Ugrin Csák led troops against the Mongols at the battle of Mohi, and Archbishop Pál Tomori died as a commander at the battle of Mohács.
- 1529 to 1686: Ottoman forces took Kalocsa on 15 August 1529 and destroyed the town, and its people scattered. The Ottomans burned the castle and withdrew in October 1686.
- 18th century: Paprika is first recorded here in 1729. The present cathedral was completed in 1774, and the archbishop's palace was begun in 1775 and largely finished by 1780.
- 1875 and 1882: A great fire destroyed much of the town, and the railway arrived seven years later.
- 1936: The Folk Art House opened.
- 1982: Nicolas Schöffer's light tower, Chronos 8, was inaugurated on 26 November.
- To learn more ashore: The Viski Károly Museum, Szent István király út 25, covers the history and folk traditions of Kalocsa and the Sárköz.
Kalocsa with Children
Kalocsa gives families paprika, painted flowers and a light tower driven by the noise of passing traffic. A park behind the archbishop's palace is a place to rest between sights.
- Younger children: The public part of the archbishop's garden, at Érsekkert út 1, has been open to the town since about 1930, and is a place to stretch your legs.
- School age: In the Folk Art House, the first three rooms are kept as an old peasant home. Look for the embroidery colors with local names, such as tulip red and envy yellow.
- Teenagers: The Schöffer museum shows kinetic and computer-controlled art, and the Chronos 8 tower at the bus station turns its 49 mirrors and switches its lights in response to the sound of the road beside it, picked up by sound sensors and run by a computer.
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