Szeged has beautiful buildings and wide avenues. This is mainly due to the great flood of 1879, which literally wiped away the whole town (only 265 of the 5723 houses remained and 165 people died). Emperor Franz Joseph visited the town and promised that "Szeged will be more beautiful than it used to be". He kept his promise. During the next years a new, modern city emerged from the ruins, with palaces and wide streets. After the First World War Hungary lost its southern territories to Serbia, as a result Szeged became a city close to the border, and its importance
Szeged Pick Szeged playing in the Nemzeti Bajnokság I. The second most popular sport is football in the city. Szeged had several clubs playing in the top level Hungarian league, the Nemzeti Bajnokság I. These are Szegedi AK, Szegedi Honvéd SE. The only currently operating club, Szeged 2011 play in the Nemzeti Bajnokság II. The city offers a wide range of media – television and radio stations, and print and online newspapers. Szeged is twinned with: Szeged is the most important transportation hub in the Southern Great Plain. Two motorways, M5 and M43, lie along the city border. Through the M5