Hungarian floral patterns

The floral pattern around Kalocsa is the most popular floral folk pattern in Hungary .It's widely used to advertise the country - to sell souvenirs -but it represents only a small area of South Hungary .There 's an area around 120km from the capital,Budapest ,by the Eastern bank of Danube where this style of floral pattern was developed by simple villagers .
Around 150 years ago here the style of embroidery was not so colorful : the wool available for embroidery were of limited color -or faded quickly .Blue and red ,black an red patterns were common in that era.Later when more colors were available then this floral decorations became bigger and multicolor This used to be the wear of the peasants ,farmer women , agricultural laborers in that specific area -and only the Hungarian Catholic peasants used to get dressed this way .It was a cheap solution of having a great Sunday best -as the base material of these clothes was cotton . Having a silk dress used to be a sign of great luxury and these villagers could afford it only once in a lifetime if ever .The bride used to wear a plain black dress made of silk .She used to wear the same dress for funerals and when she died she was buried in this expensive outfit .It used to worth the price of a cow . But her other outfit for her special occasions was embroidered by herself and she could wear it when going to church ,to parties and other special occasions .

The most popular motifs are :big roses ,small roses ,budding roses ,lily ,tulips ,poppy ,pansy .Clothes ,table clothes are decorated by those motifs radiating joy of life and passion . The vivid colors
of this style were reserved for younger generations .When women became grandmothers they stopped wearing anything decorated with pink or red flowers and changed this colorful style into green and blue patterns .Villagers used to call it "old style " .
This colorful embroidered outfits were not for every day use -but for special occasions .However the bride used to wear black silk dress for her own great day -while the guests were all dressed in colors .
This style of clothing was live tradition until the 1950's in Hungary .After that huge population flooded the factories of the cities -and many traditions of the villages faded .

Mrs. Andras is doing the needle work while participating a conference on bonnet .Typical way of doing needle work . For many ladies in this area sitting down means doing some embroidery ,

-27 color is used nowadays in the South Hungarian embroidery though originally it was totally white



http://www.flickr.com/photos/sadtuna/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

Hotel Hilton Budapest has a Kalocsa restaurant where every thingis decorated with this pattern

- White in white patterns are very popular as table clothes ,or blouses among the Western tourists . The Japanese like the colorful style in a lace background ,while French women prefer the style of 100 back .Like here

- when painting this style peasant women use simple tempera mixed with white of egg which make the wall- painting last longer

- the traditional wedding was very beautiful though the bride was dressed in black - but all the guests were wearing the multicolored outfits and were dancing with embroidered pillows - the black dress actually was a nice contrast

-the Kalocsa style folk art shows much similarity with the North Indian folk art from Kashmir

- originally it was the wear of the poor who wished to have nice dresses like the rich but could not afford those fashionable items made in factories -this way they tried to create their own handmade versions-that by the time became famous and more expensive than the factory made items
- the women of that area decorate their surroundings with great enthusiasm including churches ,railway station ,toilet doors ,priest 's robe .



The Real Madrid soccer team's goalkeeper on Facebook asked  his supporters to design a glove for him for the Saturday match against Barcelona Spain.

Many Hungarian candidates were on track but Csonka Gergo studying in Barcelona led competition  virtually from the beginning . Unfortunately the image that one had to vote  for was removed by Facebook several times, so he had to start all again. However, no effort was futile, just 20 hours after the submission of his design five thousand votes came up, so he won the glove design competition.

Iker Casillas has promised that the winner glove-maker can get two tickets to the 10 December match and get that dedicated glove from him .



Do you like this floral style ? See more items with similar design !



Wedding dress with kalocsai floral motifs . From the collection of Rozsa szalon .

Intellectuals and the kalocsai flowers

Just to illustrate how important this traditional style is-a cultural program was organised in Budapest 's most prominent intellectual club in the Kossuth club on January 28th . There were years when educated people regarded these flowers as simple junk .Luckily this is the past. Nowadays more and more artists include those motifs in their artwork .One of them is the Hungarian fashion designer - Tunde Hrivnak .Her collection will be shown as well .
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A retired mechanical engineer in Hungary was extremly bored at home .When he retired, he suddenly does not know what to do eight hours a day ...He had seen some female relatives doing the kalocsai style lacework when he decided he would try it himself .That is how Boján Imre became a recognised artist of this type of folk art .

My brother lives in South Hungary .Close to that area where these floral motifs are so famous !
MY niece got a full costume from her grandma !
Her friend arrived from hundreds of kilometer far , from Transylvania . It is home of more than 2 millions of Hungarians . Their traditional wear is so different !
As a sign of their friendship they exchanged their costumes and posed for a photo here !
Photo taken in May 2009 ,Hungary

Nowadays women do less embroidery than before .Grandmothers do an outfit for their little grand daughters - for the sake of a photo -or for very special occasions .However this colorful style of folk art is still very popular home decor and it is used by special wall painter women as well .If you happen to go to that area and you visit some of the surrounding villages ( Szakmar ,Oregcserto ,Homokmegy ) you may see local women sitting on benches in front of their houses chatting and embroidering table clothes or bed clothes .As it can be sold for tourists -embroidery is made by cottage industry in that area .It's some kind of part time job for many women who do it in their free time .
There is a small china painting manufacture where these famous patterns are applied by hand on vase ,plates and mugs .
White in white patterns are very popular as table clothes ,or blouses among the Western tourists . The Japanese like the colorful style in a lace background ,while French women prefer the style of 100 back .
Vastly commercialized- the tradition is preserved mainly -because these villagers feel very great pride on these style -and mothers teach their daughters on their art .

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Around the colorful or white handmade floral pattern you can see sometimes lace work .It is called "riselio " and it might have some French origin . The riselio is made by sewing machine with special settings .It is a really difficult thing to do . First a hole is cut into the material then the thread is passed to fill the hole .Some looks like a spider others will look like shell or floral pattern .
Here you can see my friend Eva as she is displaying her art in a fair doing the lace work at the same time .



photo source

By car : from Budapest you take the road 51 and it will take you to the town .
120 km south

By train - unfortunately the railway station was just closed down some years ago - though its floral decorated walls and wood carvings make it unique in the world ! However if you are a fan of railways - then you can go to the Transdanubian city called Szekszard from Delipalyaurdvar railway station ,Budapest . Once you arrived then just walk to the bus station where you take the bus to Kalocsa . It takes one hour to get there .You will cross a bridge over the Danube .Photo is a must !

By bus : from Nepliget bus station /Budapest - buy ticket for "gyorsjarat" that stops only once or twice and takes you there within two hours

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By hydrofoil -KALOCSA-HAJÓS BY HYDROFOIL
Budapest - Kalocsa-Hajós - Budapest theme hydrofoil line

DEPARTURES: 19 JUNE - 31 JULY - 14 AUGUST - 28 AUGUST
The theme liner is also available for groups on weekdays during the season from April to October.

free download and commercial use at font squirel

created by :Levi Halmos

Find more Hungarian floral design at Floral Art !

The original station was built in 1885-by Gabor and in 1937-38 it was transformed by Rökk Charles Louis . The rebuilt station building was decorated then by local peasant 's folk wood carving and floral painting . The unique station building was later preserved as a protected monument .. . It has been a small but lively station with five daily trains until recently - but closed down some years ago due to the systemic termination of small stations in Hungary .
It is worth visiting however :
Vasútállomás (Kalocsa)
Longitude : 18° 59.689' , Latitude : 46° 32.08

Address: Vasút utca ,Kalocsa

See some photos here .

Location : Main street also called Szent Istvan ut number 25
tel :36/78/462-351
Email: info@viskikarolymuzeum.hu

The ethnographic collection of 6742 pieces with a wide range of materials, including textiles, furniture, pottery, archival photos, wood, mats, iron, glass, etc.. instruments, , which were widely used in peasant's culture .The most valuable and most interesting part is the textile, which has been preserved for us in the Kalocsa folk art and memories of costumes of different periods, from 19 mid-century to today. It is really very exciting to see how this floral style improved from tiny two colored flowers into huge multicolored patterns .In the last room you can admire the beauty of the wedding scene . While the bride is wearing black dress all the female guest are wearing multicolor outfits .

This place is worth visiting to see how the original folk art is used in the decoration of luxurious Herend pocelain . If you contact them then they can arrange for you a live decoration show .Kalocsai Porcelánfest%u0151 Manufaktúra

Address:
H-6300 Kalocsa, Malatin tér 5.

Phone/fax:
+36 78 462 017

E-mail:
porcelanfesto@t-online.hu

Website:
www.kalocsaiporcelan.hu

1.hotel kalocsa
four stars

reviews on that hotel
:" On the outside the hotel is very beautiful indeed, but the rooms we got were very basic, and they felt like monk's cell in terms of size, although the decor had some charm. "

"If you are looking for a good value hotel deal that also allows you to use whirlpool and a sauna as a bonus, you may just want to consider it."

"The room was so small and overfurnished that we were tripping over ourselves. The service was really a mixed-bag - from friendly and informative to rude and scammy."

."Overall it is a grate place for those who love familliar athmosphare.I recomend it,and I hope return back in my life"

Club Hotel
three stars
7 rooms with telephone ,tv ,fridge ,shower , one room has AC
price : 30 -43 euro per night ( breakfast and taxes are NOT included)

Reviews : not available

Ket Golya Fogado

this is an inn ... with restaurant , family atmosphere , with rooms with 2, 3 ,4 beds
they can accommodate up to 30 persons

review by me : it is a neat place with friendly staff
you can take your pet
it is far from the center
you need a taxi driver or a map to find the place which is in the green belt in a very quiet neighborhood