The traditional Szegedi house is known by its top. Just under the roof, you will notice the hole with the beams radiating away from the center like sunbeams. The hole is the eye of God, to remind the residents that God is watching. The sunbeams are in the shape of triangle, which represents the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). The houses were built in 1879, after the flood that wiped out most of the city, spearheaded by the architect, Lajos Lektar. Thirty-eight of these houses are still standing, now they are protected by the Historical Society.
In 1904, they ceased building houses in this way. Thus, I can be confident in saying that my favorite house on the street with the traditional houses was probably built after 1904. Isn't the curved roof cool?
The inside of the smallest traditional houses had three rooms: the "clean" room, where one would entertain guests, the kitchen, and the bedroom. The inside had some brick stoves build in the early 20th century and a wine cellar under the bedroom, but I did not see a bathroom or even a chamberpot anywhere. The door leading down into the cellar had some ingenious carpentry. There was a handrail built into the door.
It was a rainy day, so the peppers were hanging in the bedroom to dry. In the 18th, 19th, and early 20th century, Szeged's economy was built on paprika production. They had even developed a means of drying the peppers so that the paprika powder was not as spicy.
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