Stop 13 · Gossip Walk
Szeged slippers
Dóm Visitor Centre · Dóm tér 6.
In Szeged even the Virgin Mary wears slippers. And the original slipper has no left or right.
On the ceiling of the cathedral's sanctuary is Ferenc Márton's 1931 mosaic: the Madonna wears an embroidered cloak and Szeged slippers. The exhibition that opened at the Dóm Visitor Centre in 2023 is named after it: “In Szeged even the Virgin Mary wears slippers”.
The word papucs comes from Turkish, and the slipper spread during the Ottoman era. A Szeged legend says fierce young wives finished off a disrespectful pasha with their slipper heels.
The original Szeged slipper is “one-footed”: both were sewn on the same last, with no left or right. Left-and-right pairs only appeared after the First World War, for wealthier customers, with a pompom.
In Tápé the groom gave his bride white engagement slippers. That's how everyone knew which girl was taken.
In the first half of the 20th century 50–80 slipper makers worked in Szeged. By the 2000s Sándor Rátkai was almost the last master of the hand-sewn slipper. Today Tibor Sallay and others carry it on, and since 2018 slipper-making has been on Hungary's national list of intangible cultural heritage.
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- TrueIn Ferenc Márton's 1931 cathedral mosaic, the Madonna wears Szeged slippers.
- TrueThe original Szeged slipper has no left or right foot.
- TrueOn the national list of intangible cultural heritage since 2018.
- AllegedlyA pasha defeated by slipper heels: a Szeged legend.
People say
In Szeged they say the Szeged slipper has no match.
What we know: The explanation for the saying is that the old Szeged slipper was “swappable”: the right and the left one were no different from each other. Shaped left and right pairs only appeared around 1935.
Where it was said: Széchenyi tér és környéke (irodalmiradio.hu szegedi irodalmi séta)