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Deri Museum

One block further west of the Reformed College, on the square of the same name, stands the Déri Museum, named after the industrialist Frigyes Déri, whose art collection forms the basis of the museum's exhibits. Its extraordinarily rich stocks include art treasures from Eastern Asia, ancient finds from Egypt (mummies, sarcophagi), Greece and Italy, as well as a collection of local folk-art (shepherds' cloaks from Hortobágy, decorated earthenware and porcelain vessels), together with 15th-20th C art, such as the large painting "Ecco Homo" by Mihály Munkácsy (1844-1900). The four bronze figures in the museum courtyard, the work of the Debrecen sculptor Ferenc Medgyessy (1881-1958), symbolize the four spheres of the museum's collections, namely archaeology, history, art and ethnography. The sculptor was awarded the Grand Prix at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1937 for this work of art. In Péterfia utca (No. 28) is a small museum with more of his work.

Debrecen Town Hall

The Town Hall was built in 1842/43 in Classical style to the design of Ferenc Povolny. The central ressaut has five windows and is divided up by Corinthian columns; the arms of the town of Debrecen with the Paschal Lamb are carved on the tympanum.

Great Forest

The Great Forest (Nagyerdo) is the recreational area in the north of the town which can be reached by tram. In the 2300ha (5750 acres) of forest and parkland (which also contains the University and the Central Cemetery), there are plenty of sports and recreational facilities, including a pond for rowing and sailing, a stadium, a small zoo and a pleasure park. In a 9ha (23 acre) park will be found the thermal baths (Nagyerdei körút 9/11), supplied by two mineral springs at a temperature of 63°C (145°F). There are four thermal baths in the domed hall, where alternating hot and cold and orthopedic underwater baths can be taken. The three open-air pools have a total water area of 5000sq.m (5500sq.yd), and one of them has artificially induced waves.

Great Reformed Church

The very emblem of Debrecen is the imposing Great Reformed Church (Református Nagytem-plom), at the end of Piac utca. As well as being the town's dominant feature it is also its most important building from an historical point of view and the largest Calvinist church in Hungary. A church has stood here since the 12th C. The Church of St Andrew, a Gothic basilica built in the 13th C and burned down in the 16th C, was rebuilt but again reduced to ashes and rubble in a town fire of 1802. Remains of the walls from this church have been uncovered at the north end of the present building. This was built between 1807 and 1819 (the interior having been completed somewhat later) to the design of Mihály Péchy and Josef Tallherr. It is in Classical style with a tympanum above and towers either side of the entrance which is on the south side, The centrally-arranged interior is also somewhat cold and severe. The bell from the previous church, weighing 5600 kilos (51/2 tons), was preserved and recast in 1873; it is rung only on special occasions. The Transylvanian Prince György II Rákóczi originally had the bell cast from melted-down cannons used in the Thirty Years' War.

Flower Carnival

Every year on Constitution Day (August 20th) Debrecen becomes the scene of a colorful procession with floats bedecked with flowers in the form of animals, fairytale figures, coats of arms and so on.

April - October

July - August -> 26(°C) - Summer
January - February -> 0(°C) - Spring

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