Mátészalka: Culture, History and Fényes Napok

Jewish history and contemporary culture

Mátészalka’s synagogue was built in 1857 as a symbol of the strengthening of the Jewish community. Today it serves as a cultural space where the past meets contemporary art. A historical connection and a present-day cultural function thus come together in one place. If you would like to include the synagogue in your itinerary, check access arrangements before your visit.

Electrification and urban art

The renovated house at Kossuth utca 16 contains an exhibition on the history of electrification. The house also preserves the memory of Hungary’s first electrified residential building. The exhibition’s subject and this place of remembrance are therefore housed in the same building, giving the history of technology a tangible connection to domestic life. If you are planning a visit, check visiting arrangements in advance.

Public art is also among the city’s named attractions. The municipality lists the Hét Vezér díszkút and the Szent István equestrian statue as significant tourist attractions; both works were created by Mátészalka-based sculptor Bíró Lajos. The equestrian statue was unveiled in 2000. The fountain and equestrian statue provide two distinct artistic points of interest on a city walk, while their shared creator links them.

Fényes Napok: the event and planning your trip

The Fényes Napok Festival is Mátészalka’s largest event. The 2026 edition was scheduled to include concerts, children’s programmes, a market, an amusement park, a parade and culinary demonstrations on 28 and 29 August. These programme details apply to the 2026 edition and are not a general statement about the programme in other years. If you would like to plan a future trip around the festival, check the dates and programme for the relevant edition.

The synagogue and the theme of electrification offer points of interest for a culturally and historically focused stay; the artworks and the festival provide other focal points. This lets you decide what kind of trip you want without treating individual attractions or events as interchangeable.

More themes in the wider Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg region

Beyond Mátészalka, Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg offers its own cultural and natural attractions. The Vay-Ádám Museum Collection of the Hungarian National Museum is housed in the Renaissance Vay Castle in Vaja. Báthori Castle in Nyírbátor has a permanent exhibition and a waxwork display depicting members of the Báthori family in historically appropriate settings. For travellers interested in culture, these are distinct historical themes: a museum collection in a Renaissance castle and depictions of a family in another castle.

The landscapes across the wider region also have distinct characteristics. Bátorliget Mire covers about 53 hectares, is strictly protected, and preserves the different stages in the vegetation and landscape history of the Alföld plain particularly well. The Cégénydányád Park Nature Reserve currently covers 14.28 hectares. Near Csaroda, Nyíres-tó and Báb tava are notable peat bogs whose history dates back to the Ice Age.

Near Tiszadob, a 1,000-hectare nature reserve encompasses oxbow lakes, riparian forests and grassland. Between 80 and 90 pairs of herons nest in the Tölgyes Forest. Also in Tiszadob is Andrássy Castle, built between 1880 and 1885 in the French Gothic style: former Prime Minister Andrássy Gyula commissioned it to designs by Alpár Ignác. Vaja is also home to the 77-hectare Vajai Reservoir, fed by the Vajai Main Canal and used for fishing and irrigation.

Those interested in the history of religious architecture can explore the northern Hungarian section of the Medieval Churches Route, which links 37 churches in the medieval church landscape of Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg. These regional examples add further, clearly distinct themes to Mátészalka’s own cultural sites for trip planning.

Discover more destinations

Discover more destinations: Géberjén, Papos, Nyírmeggyes, Nyírcsaholy.

Back to the regional travel overview: Mátészalkai.