Visit Debrecen

About Debrecen

Debrecen is Hungary's second city — a calm, low-rise Calvinist town on the Great Plain that locals proudly call the 'Calvinist Rome' for its long history as the spiritual capital of Hungarian Protestantism. The yellow neoclassical Great Reformed Church (Nagytemplom), the country's largest Protestant church, dominates the central Kálvin Square; it was here in 1849 that Lajos Kossuth read out Hungary's declaration of independence from the Habsburgs. The compact centre is rewarding for wandering: the elegant Hotel Aranybika, the playful sculpture-lined Piac utca, the Reformed College that has been training Hungarian intellectuals since 1538, and the Deék Square garden of memory. Beyond the city, Debrecen is best as the gateway to the Hortobágy National Park 30km west — a vast steppe (puszta) landscape of nine-arched stone bridges, traditional grey cattle, racka sheep with their characteristic spiral horns, and proud Magyar horsemen demonstrating five-in-hand riding tricks. UNESCO-listed for its 4,000-year-old pastoral culture. The Hortobágy is also a Dark Sky Reserve. Back in town, soak in the genuinely fun Aquaticum Mediterranean Pleasure Bath complex — a sub-tropical aqua-park with hot spring water at 38°C.