Lying halfway between the Danube and the Tisza Rivers in the heart of the Southern Plain, Kecskemet is ringed with vineyards and orchards that don't seem to stop at the limits of this 'garden city.'  History has been kind to Kecskemet, now the capital of Hungary's largest county ("Bacs-Kiskun").  While other towns on the Ottoman-occupied Great Plain were administered by the dreaded spahis (the name given to a member of the Turkish irregular cavalry), who had to pay their own way and took what they wanted when they wanted it, Kecskemet - like Szeged farther south - was a khas town, under the direct rule and protection of the sultan.  In the nineteenth century the peasants in the region planted vineyards and orchards to bind the poor, sandy soil.
  Kecskemet's agricultural wealth was used wisely - it was able to redeem all its debts in cash in 1832 - and today the city can boast some of the most spectacular architecture in the country.  Art Nouveau and the so-called Historical Eclectic (or Hungarian Romantic) style predominate, giving the city a turn-of-the-twentieth-century feel.  It also was - and still is - an important cultural center: an artists' colony was established here in 1912, and the composer Zoltan Kodaly chose Kecskemet as the site for his world-famous Institute of Music Education.  Two other local boys who made good were Laszlo Kelemen, who formed Hungary's first provincial traveling theatre here late in the eighteenth century, and Jozsef Katona (1791-1830), the father of modern Hungarian drama.  (Steve Fallon & Neal Bedford, Hungary, 283-84.)

IMAGE	IMAGE NO.	DATA
Kossuth ter		Kossuth ter
	kcs2003-003	(Sunday 13 July) A building next to Catholic Great Church ("Nagytemplom"), Kossuth ter
Monument of "Muemlek"		Monument of "Muemlek" near Franciscan Church of St. Nicholas ("Szent Miklos ferences templom"), Kossuth ter
	kcs2003-002	(Sunday 13 July) Monument of "Muemlek" near Church of St. Nicholas, Kossuth ter
	kcs2003-001	(Sunday 13 July) Monument of "Muemlek" near Franciscan Church of St. Nicholas ("Szent Miklos ferences templom"), Kossuth ter
Townhall		Townhall, Kossuth ter.
	kcs2003-005	(Sunday 13 July) Townhall, Kossuth ter.
Flea Market		Flea Market in Kossuth ter
	kcs2003-013	(Sunday 13 July) Flea Market in Kossuth ter
	kcs2003-014	(Sunday 13 July) Flea Market in Kossuth ter
Church of St. Nicholas		Church of St. Nicholas, Kossuth ter.
	kcs2003-004	(Sunday 13 July) Church of St. Nicholas, Kossuth ter
Catholic Great Church		The Catholic Great Church
	kcs2003-027	(Sunday 13 July) Catholic Great Church
	kcs2003-025	(Sunday 13 July) Viewed from the top of Catholic Great Church
	kcs2003-026	(Sunday 13 July) Me at the top of Catholic Great Church
Church of St. Nicholas		Church of St. Nicholas
	kcs2003-010	(Sunday 13 July) Church of St. Nicholas
	kcs2003-008	(Sunday 13 July) Statue of Maria, Church of St. Nicholas
	kcs2003-009	(Sunday 13 July) Church of St. Nicholas
House of Technology		House of Technology ("Technika Haza"), Rakoczi ut 2.  This Moorish structure dating from 1871 was once a synagogue.  Today it is used for conferences and exhibitions.
	kcs2003-016	(Sunday 13 July) House of Technology ("Technika Haza"), Rakoczi ut 2.  This Moorish structure dating from 1871 was once a synagogue.  Today it is used for conferences and exhibitions.
	kcs2003-017	(Sunday 13 July) House of Technology ("Technika Haza"), Rakoczi ut 2.  This Moorish structure dating from 1871 was once a synagogue.  Today it is used for conferences and exhibitions.
	kcs2003-019	(Sunday 13 July) House of Technology ("Technika Haza"), Rakoczi ut 2.  This Moorish structure dating from 1871 was once a synagogue.  Today it is used for conferences and exhibitions.
	kcs2003-020	(Sunday 13 July) House of Technology ("Technika Haza"), Rakoczi ut 2.  This Moorish structure dating from 1871 was once a synagogue.  Today it is used for conferences and exhibitions.
	kcs2003-021	(Sunday 13 July) House of Technology ("Technika Haza"), Rakoczi ut 2.  This Moorish structure dating from 1871 was once a synagogue.  Today it is used for conferences and exhibitions.
	kcs2003-018	(Sunday 13 July) House of Technology ("Technika Haza"), Rakoczi ut 2.  This Moorish structure dating from 1871 was once a synagogue.  Today it is used for conferences and exhibitions.
Liberte Restaurant		Liberte Restaurant, Szabadsag ter 2.
	kcs2003-006	(Sunday 13 July) Lunch at Liberte Restaurant, Szabadsag ter 2.  Prof. Naoko Toraiwa, her daughters Junko and Aya, Prof. Youngmin Kim (Dongguk University Seoul, Korea) and his wife Prof. Myung-Hye Huh (Korea University, Korea).
	kcs2003-007	(Sunday 13 July) Lunch at Liberte Restaurant, Szabadsag ter 2.  Prof. Naoko Toraiwa, her daughters Junko and Aya, Prof. Youngmin Kim (Dongguk University Seoul, Korea) and his wife Prof. Myung-Hye Huh (Korea University, Korea).
Kodaly Institute of Music Education		Kodaly Institute of Music Education ("Kodaly Zoltan Zenepedagogiai Intezet")
	kcs2003-012	(Sunday 13 July) Kodaly Institute of Music Education
	kcs2003-011	(Sunday 13 July) Bust of Zoltan Kodaly, Kodaly Institute of Music Education ("Kodaly Zoltan Zenepedagogiai Intezet")
Ornamental Palace		Ornamental Palace ("Cifrapalota"); Kecskemet Gallery ("Kecskemeti Keptar"), Rakoczi ut 1.
	kcs2003-015	(Sunday 13 July) Ornamental Palace ("Cifrapalota"); Kecskemet Gallery ("Kecskemeti Keptar"), Rakoczi ut 1.
Szabadsag ter		Szabadsag ter
	kcs2003-022	(Sunday 13 July) Professor Naoko Toraiwa and her daughters, Junko and Aya in Szabadsag ter
	kcs2003-023	(Sunday 13 July) Me in Szabadsag ter
	kcs2003-024	(Sunday 13 July) Games of Chess, Szabadsag ter