Viktor Orbán Inaugurates “Hungary’s most beautiful thermal bath”

The renewed Hagymatikum thermal bath in Makó in southern Hungary was inaugurated over the weekend. The inauguration ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who emphasized in his speech that “Hagymatikum is the most beautiful thermal bath in Hungary and probably in the whole world.”

At the inauguration of the renewed and expanded Hagymatikum spa, the Prime Minister said that with the completion of the new part of the spa, the debt owed to the architect of the building, Imre Makovecz (1935-2011), has been repaid. In his words, Makó, Imre Makovecz’s legacy, and the Hagymatikum are worthy of admiration from all over the world.

Viktor Orbán said that knowing who designed which famous Hungarian buildings is part of the general education of the Hungarian people. “However, the buildings designed by Imre Makovecz are not something we are taught: we only have to look at them and we immediately recognize them, he added. His art is not an example of an architectural style, but a style itself. The only similar example of an architect who was himself a distinct, unclassifiable style was Antoni Gaudí. And what was Barcelona for Gaudí was Makó for Imre Makovecz.”

Mayor Éva Erzsébet Farkas said: “The project has made the spa building complete and whole, as Imre Makovecz and his colleagues once envisioned it.” It is almost 30 years since the town and the architect crossed paths and today there are 14 public buildings designed by Makovecz in the town in Csongrád-Csanád County. This makes Makó an important settlement in the Southern Great Plain tourist region, she added.

The HUF 12 billion (EUR 30 million) development, carried out by Fehérép Ltd., doubled the current capacity of the spa, which opened twelve years ago. The new building, covering almost 2,500 square meters, has a family and adventure zone, with a slide tower with indoor slides starting from a height of 12 meters.

In addition, the spa has a partially covered thermal pool, a pool bar and a summer changing room with a sun terrace, and the green areas have been renewed. A special feature of the spa is a section based on Makovecz’s drawings, evoking the mythical world of Atlantis, with unique sculptures and light shows.

Via MTI, Featured image: Facebook/Makói Hagymatikum Fürdő