Kalocsa

▪ Hungary

      town, Bács-Kiskun megye (county), central Hungary, located just east of the Danube River. It was one of the bishoprics founded by the first king of Hungary, Stephen I, and its status was raised to archbishopric in the 11th century. It was a thriving medieval town until it was sacked by the Turks, rising again in the 19th century as an agricultural and food-processing centre. Kalocsa has perhaps the richest folk art in all Hungary; the motifs painted by the town's “writing women” are distinguished by inventiveness of design and a wealth of colour. The House of Folk Art museum and the Károly Visky Museum display local work. The Kalocsa motifs are also reproduced in much-sought-after embroidery work, which is exported. Nicolas Schöffer (Schöffer, Nicolas), a pioneer of kinetic sculpture, was born there. His house is now a museum, and his 85-foot- (26-metre-) high Cybernetic Light Tower stands in a public square. Abundant sunlight permits paprika to thrive, and the town is well known for that crop. Pop. (2001) 18,789.

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