Szeged's rebuilt cityscape is its greatest attraction. The catastrophic Tisza flood of 1879 wiped out nearly every building, and what rose in its place — the grand ring boulevards, the monumental Dóm Square, the twin-towered Votive Church — is one of the most coherent examples of late-nineteenth-century urban planning in Central Europe. The city wears this history proudly without being stuffy about it.
Beyond the architecture, Szeged has a lively cultural calendar anchored by the Open-Air Festival each summer, a university campus that keeps the streets animated year-round, and the Tisza riverbank for afternoon walks and boat trips. The Móra Ferenc Museum houses an exceptional archaeological collection from the Tisza region, and the Great Synagogue — one of the most beautiful in Hungary — deserves more visitors than it gets.