Owing to its pivotal role in the reformation movement in Hungary, Debrecen, today the second most populous city in the country, was called the Calvinist Rome in the 16th century.

The symbol of the city, the Classicist Great Calvinist Church, with an unpretentious interior seating 3,000 persons, is the largest Calvinist church in the country. Its treasured relic is the armchair of Lajos Kossuth (1802-1894), who proclaimed the dethronement of the Habsburg House on 14 April 1849.

The Calvinist College, one of Hungary’s first educational institutions, has been in the service of education, literature and science for more than 450 year, houses an exhibition tracing the history of the college and one devoted to ecclesiastical art. Housing the largest ecclesiastical collection numbering 500,000 volumes, its library, a historical building, boasts many rare books.

With its items collected from three continents, the Déri Museum houses one of the most complete collections of antiques in Hungary. It was founded in 1920, based on the priceless collection of Frigyes Déri, a silk magnate living in Vienna. The regional, folklore and applied arts collections of the museum are well-known throughout the country. The most treasured pieces of the gallery are the paintings of Mihály Munkácsy (1844-1900), one of the greatest figures of Hungarian realism in art. Mihály Munkácsy's monumental Trilogy of Christ huge biblical canvases can be seen here: "Passion”, "Jesus before Pilate", "Golgota" and "Ecce Homo". The latter is 26 square metres in size and depicts the scene where Jesus is led to face a crowd shouting death unto him.

The City Hall building at 20 Piac utca is a fine example of the Classicist style. An industrial monument, the mill at the corner of Böszörményi út is the largest windmill in Central Europe. A nature reserve since 1939, Nagyerdő (Great Wood) is the city's popular parkland area. Facilities here include a zoo, an amusement park and a botanical garden. The thermal waters at the spa in Nagyerdő are particularly recommended for chronic arthritis and sufferers of worn joints, rheumatism, gynaecological disorders, orthopaedic deformations and neuralgia. The roofed water sport facility nearby with cave baths, Jacuzzis and palm trees offers a genuine Mediterranean atmosphere.