The towns of the Great Plain are distributed fairly evenly over the map. Most of them are located at a distance of around 27 kilometres apart. The origins of this unique settlement structure can be traced back to the Middle Ages. Reports by contemporary travellers note that merchants and travellers covered a distance of three miles a day (the mediaeval Hungarian mile was 9 kilometres) and always spent the night in a protected place. These became the towns where markets were held, churches built and tolls collected.

Before 1850 a single state highway crossed the Great Plain from Budapest to Temesvár and Nagyszeben, today both in Romania. According to contemporary records, the road was more than a kilometre wide in places. To avoid patches of deep mud and the dust in summer, travellers skirted these spots and since there were scarcely any rocks or trees on the plain to block their way, such places gradually widened into a real "superstrada", much like the tracks that once crossed the American prairies.

The typical dwelling of settlements on the Great Plain was the single-storey house. Even the towns had the appearance of giant villages. This strong architectural tradition may also be the reason why modernist architectural trends have not changed the characteristic appearance and style of the region. The latest trends openly embrace this rich heritage, drawing on it for inspiration.

The largest Reformed Calvinist building in the country, the Great Church has become the symbol of the city of Debrecen, which is often called "the Calvinist Rome". Its harmonic beauty and subdued classical architecture deserve attention. A church stood in its place as early as five to six hundred years ago and it received its current form in the last century. The deposition of the Habsburg Dynasty and the independence of Hungary were proclaimed in the Great Church and the Chapel of the Calvinist College in April 1849 by the then Governor of Hungary, Lajos Kossuth. His armchair is still cherished in the old church. The Calvinist College, one of Hungary’s first educational institutions, has been in the service of education, literature and science for more than 450 years. With its items collected frorn 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. His 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.

Szeged, a town with a long past, is the economic and cultural centre of the Southern Great Plain. It owes its present appearance to a natural catastrophe. In the spring of 1879 a dreadful flood washed the flourishing town away in a single night. Only 200 of its 6000 buildings survived. Reconstruction began soon afterwards and within a few decades a city based on modern town planning principles had been built, laid out with boulevards and avenues like Paris and Budapest. The citizens of the rebuilt city vowed not only to build an extensive system of dikes to prevent the recurrence of such a natural catastrophe, but they also erected a splendid church. The neo-Romanesque Votive Church became the citys main landmark. Beside it stands the 12th-13th century Romanesque Demetrius Tower, Szeged's oldest monument. For decades the square in front of the church has been used for summer open-air performances with the beautiful facade providing an imposing background. The statues of 100 great Hungarians have been placed in the National Memorial Hall around the Cathedral Square (Dóm tér). Széchenyi Square is one of  Hungary's biggest and loveliest parks with many statues and fountains. The beauty of the square is enhanced by the Town Hall in Zopf-Art Nouveau style, and the neo-Classical Zsóter House.

There is no shortage of cultural programmes either. Foremost of these is the Szeged Open-air Festival, This cultural festival, held annually since 1931, is centred around Cathedral Square infront of the famous Votive Church, where the nevi auditorium is able to seat 4000 persons. Besides classical Hungarian dramas, the programmi includes Italian operas and modern ballets. In recent years the biggest successes have been the Hungarian and international rock operas. For almost thirty years now the Szeged International Folk Dance Festival has been a spectacular part of the open-air festival. Its cultural message is peaceful coexistence and the mutual depehdence of different peoples. 

The motifs of the style known as Hungarian Art Nouveau decorate the facades of many buildings on the Great Plain. The Cifra (Fancy) Palace built in Kecskemét in 1902 is also in this style. It now houses an art gallery. Although the motifs used are not identical with the ornarnents of hungarian folk art, they are not foreign to the floral decorative art of the Great Plain. Kecskemét owes much of its charm in the spacious rnain square with its promenades, with the churches of various denominations side by side. The town hall dating from the 19^th  century has been beautifully refurbished. Its facade is decorated with a set of chimes containing 37 elements; they mark the passing of time with a pleasing tune composed by the towns famous son, the composer and teacher Zoltán Kodály (1882-1967).  

In Békéscsaba, paintings by Mihály Munkácsy (1844-1900), an outstanding figure of Hungarian art, can be seen in the Chaszta manor house built in 1849.

The only mediaeval brick castle that has survived intact on the Great Plain is found in Gyula. Theatre performances are held in the court of the enormous Gothic building in the summer and spectacular shows can be seen on the floating stage on the picturesque boating lake in front of the castle. The Castle Theatre Festival is held in the mediaeval castle at Gyula with outdoor performances in the shelter of the massive brick walls, in the court famous for its excellent acoustics, and on the stage on the picturesque boating lake beside the castle. 

The 12^th century neo-Romanesque church of Kiszombor with its hexafoil interior space and 14^th century frescoes is an important cultural monument. Nagykőrös has a Gothic Calvinist church built in the 15^th century. The Catholie church in Tápé was built in the 13th-15^th centuries and later enlarged several times. Its mediaeval frescoes are of great value.

The former inner town of Csongrád on the Tisza River has preserved its old appearance and is now the only entire settlement on the Great Plain under protection order. Its narrow streets, which were crooked io make them easier to defend, and the adobe houses with thatched roofs over 200 years old, the homes of fishermen and farmers, are still living parts of the town.

Beside the Danube, Kalocsa is one of our oldest towns, renowned for its historic buildings, living folk art, and for the paprika grown here. The town owes its early development to King Stephen who founded an arch-bishopric and had a cathedral built here. The episcopal library in the town has 120,000 volumes, including many illuminated manuscripts and hundreds of incunabula. A faithful replica of the Hungarian Holy Crown can also be seen in the town. Boats carrying tourists along the Danube often call at the international port. 

The village of cellars at Hajós is a real curiosity in Europe. Its rows of press-houses, all the same style and size are an almost surrealistic sight. The Swabians who were settled here in the Middle Ages after the departure of the Turks began to coltivate vines and make wine, taking advantage of the sandy soil and the long hours of sunshine. Over the years a total of 1200 press-houses were built within a uniform village layout. Visitors can taste the expertly made fine wines in the cellars that lie beneath them, and can even find accommodation in the press-houses. Because of the turbulent history and the lack of stone suitable for building, on the South of the Great Plain there are few examples of architecture from earlier than the 18^th century. The culture of the past has survived mainly in the form of the ruins of churches and monasteries, and a few Gothic churches dating from the 14^th century on. In Vésztó the foundations of the 11^th century monastery of Csolt are now a museum of archaeology. In Battonya the foundations of a circular Romanesque church can be seen on Hármashatárhalom. At lnáncspuszta it is worth seeing the 12^th century Gothic-neo-Romanesque Catholic church. The sanctuary of the Catholic church at Algyó is thought to date from the 11^th century and its Gothic tower was built in the late 14^th century; the church now bears the imprint of the Baroque style.