The Cifrapalota — "the showy palace" — sits one block off the main square and is the most flamboyant building in Kecskemét. Designed by Géza Márkus in 1902 and completed in the Hungarian Secession style, it has heart-shaped windows, a curling green-and-cream tile facade, and floral and folk-motif decoration that owes equal debt to Lechner and to Antoni Gaudí.
Inside, the building houses the Kecskemét Gallery, with a permanent collection of 20th-century Hungarian painting (including works by Béla Czóbel, Béla Iványi-Grünwald, and the Nagybánya school) and the spectacular peacock-themed Decorative Hall on the upper floor, which is worth the entrance fee in itself. The interplay of curving woodwork, glass, and stained light makes it one of the great Art Nouveau interiors in Central Europe.