Kaposvár

Kaposvár is the county town of Somogy county with almost 70000 inhabitants. It lies on the two banks of River Kapos, where Outer-Somogy and the Zselic meet.

The boom in the cultural life of the town happened during the period when the social class bourgeoisie was established. Its importance can be traced throughout the development of the town, and it is supported by the constantly growing number of collections, traditional programs, cultural and fine arts exhibitions.

The cultural treasures of Kaposvár are prominent among the tourist attractions. The villa of the famous son of the town, painter József Rippl-Rónai can be found on Rome-hill, and it is furnished as a museum. The private collections and private galleries add color to the arts and fine art palette. Nationally and internationally well known art groups work in the county town. The theater of the town, the Gergely Csiky Theater is one of the most highly ranked creative workshops of the country with an international reputation.

There are several traditionally organized programs in Kaposvár going back to many years. The February carnival procession treats the happenings of the epic of Mihaly Csokonai Vitez, entitled Dorottya. The March Kaposvár Spring Festival expects interested visitors with music, theater perfomances and art exhibitions of high artistic standard. After the reconstruction of the ruins of the Benedictine monastery in Kaposszentjakab the program called the Szentjakab Summer Evenings can begin again. The regional, national and international scientific conferences, meetings, fairs and competitions add color to the supply. The Kaposvár International Spring Fair in March, the Alps to the Adriatic International Exhibition and Fair in September draw hundreds of exhibitors and thousands of international and Hungarian businessman and visitors to the town.

The popularity of the village museum in Szenna, 8 kms from the town also grows year by year. The cooperation of the town and its environment on matters of tourism gets more and more succesful. This is especially true for the 17 tiny villages in intact natural environment of the smaller region lying on the western slope of the Zselic.