Our town is a real, lovely little town by River Danube where the air is clean and you can take a sightseeing tour by bike, learn about handcraft, immerse in local traditions, admire the treasure collected by the archbishops over a thousand years and also have a rest tasting delicious paprika dishes, as Kalocsa is the capital of growing spice paprika.
In the heart of the downtown you can discover one of the nicest Baroque Cathedrals of Hungary with its magnificent Angster organ which was even played by composer Franz Liszt in the 19th century who acknowledged it.
Near the Cathedral you can catch sight of the Archiepiscopal Palace surrounded by horse chestnut trees and the Holy Trinity Square where the open-air Christmas Crib is placed before Christmas. In the evenings the story of the Three Magi is presented by local people. The 18th century buildings of the square still preserve the historical atmosphere of the place. You can discover all the reminiscences of the one thousand-year-old past in these buildings and the institutes operating there.
The Archiepiscopal Library is uniquely rich in codices and incunabula dating back to the first centuries of book printing. The main attraction of the library is definitely the Baroque reading room furnished with great care and artistic sense by Archbishop Ádám Patachich (1732-1784). The Archiepiscopal Treasury and Archives preserve a remarkably varied collection to present the history of the one thousand-year-old Kalocsa Archbishopric.
In addition to the outstanding repertory of birth, marriage and death register, it also offers plenty of information on local education, economy, politics and public life, law court as well as documents of church administration. It is obvious, as the archbishops of the diocese governed huge country districts in the Middle Ages and they even lead the army in patriotic fights.
We may say that the locals do not just maintain traditions, but actually live in them. The typical Kalocsa folk art motifs are well-known everywhere as they appear on folk costumes – even nowadays a lot of people are involved in embroidery making and some elderly ladies still wear folk costumes in the street every day – and they can also be discovered on the walls of houses due to the skilful hands of painting women or on the deservedly famous Kalocsa porcelain.
he products of the Kalocsa Porcelain Painting Manufacture have been featured by the media several times nowadays. Also Prince William and Princess Catherine appreciated the tea service decorated with beautiful old Kalocsa motifs which was sent to them by Kalocsa town to congratulate on their wedding.
McLaren pilots Louis Hamilton and Jensen Button were presented with hand-painted porcelain cups by the Kalocsa delegation attending the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2011.
In 2012 Tamás Nádas stunt pilot world champion flew the Kalocsa folk art motif up to the sky and at the World Championship organized in Hungary he could step on the first place on the winners’ stand in his overalls decorated with the same motifs.
The beautiful bank of River Danube and Lake Szelid, the gem hidden among poplars are also regarded to be main tourist attractions thanks to the medicinal water and nice surroundings which attract lots of tourists here in summer.
