Ráckeve

Ráckeve is a settlement in Pest county, situated on both banks of the Danube. The city is connected with the capital by suburban train. Árpád Bridge, the most important bridge of the Ráckeve branch of the Danube is located in the city. Ráckeve is home of the cultural and historical heritage of Hungarian, Serbian and German nationalities.

A great number of cultural programs, attractions and recreation facilities await the visitors. In summer, many tourists are attracted by the beach at the riverfront, the thermal and pleasure spa and the wellness park. Ráckeve is also a popular destination for anglers. A wide range of accommodations is available in the city: wellness hotel, castle hotel, pension, youth hostel and apartments. A real curiosity is the Angyali (“Angelic”) Island pertaining to the settlement, the bungalows of which can be accessed by boat only.

The cities of Ráckeve, Tököl and Százhalombatta jointly organise Hungary’s largest international folklore festival titled Summerfest. Folk dancers and musicians from a growing number of countries every year perform at the programme series combined by folk art fair. During the two-day event enacting the work of Sándor Petőfi, “John the Valiant” (János vitéz), selected passages of the epic poem come to life in the form of various programs and performances. August is the month of organising the Small Danube Folk Music and Folk Dance Festival (Kisdunai Népzenei és Néptánc Találkozó), the procession of the church of Our Lady (Nagyboldogasszony) and the St. Stephen-day lantern-lit boat procession. A special and rare attraction is the floating market every Wednesday and Saturday, when trading is carried out solely from boats at the waterfront of the Danube by St. Stephen Square.

One of the settlement’s most remarkable buildings is Hungary’s only Serbian Orthodox church built in gothic style. The procession of the church of Our Lady (Nagyboldogasszony) is held here each year at the end of August. The baroque castle bearing the name of Eugene Savoyai houses concerts and also serves as hotel and conference site. The Árpád Museum displays with permanent exhibitions the history and the archaeological artefacts of the town. The two curiosities are the relief depicting Dávid Lantos of the 12th century and a painted Madonna from the 16th century. At the Picture-gallery of the town we can delight in the masterpieces of the outstanding representatives of the nature-centred Hungarian painters (Lotz, Szinyei, Rudnay, Ferenczy, etc.).

Sources: http://www.rackeve.hu/, http://hu.wikipedia.org/, http://www.vendegvaro.hu/