Szecesszió, the name given to Art Nouveau in the town of Szentes, resulted from a strong need for independence and the search for a means of expressing Hungarian national identity within the Habsburg-dominated Empire.

Szentes began to develop quickly after it became the seat of Csongrád County in 1878. As a result, Art Nouveau architectural trends appeared relatively early in the town, when in early 1897 architect Marcell Komor won the design competition for the hotel and theatre to be built next to Kossuth Square with his work 'Hungarian Spirit'. This early Hungarian Art Nouveau work was one of the first to bring Ödön Lechner's aspirations to create a Hungarian architectural style into the countryside.

In addition to Hungarian Art Nouveau, geometric trends were popular among architects, with several residential buildings displaying Viennese Art Nouveau elements, although crystal-shaped or cubic ornamentation was also common.

The Art Nouveau movement did not disappear with the outbreak of World War One. Rather, its motifs survived in a schematised, simplified form on buildings erected in the 1920s.
When the railway opened between Szentes and Kunszentmárton in 1887, a two-storey indoor station was built, but as newer lines were added, the indoor station proved to be cramped. Plans for its extension were drawn up as early as 1906 and completed by 1913. However, the First World War and subsequent revolution, along with economic difficulties, hindered their realisation. On 18 February 1927, Szentes town railway committee accepted Hungarian State Railways' (MÁV) favourable offer. The station building was renovated and extended in Art Nouveau style. The façade facing the town has a harmonious appearance, whereas on the three wings facing the station platform, one can clearly distinguish between the extensions and the older, renovated wings, even in their paintwork. It appears that as doors and windows were replaced in recent decades, they did not respect the original style, so various styles can be seen.

Under the name 'Hungarian Spirit', Marcell Komor tendered his design in 1896 for the construction of a new hotel in Szentes, which he won. In the heart of this lowland town, the young architect, a master of Hungarian Art Nouveau, designed a magnificent hotel with floral decorations. It housed a café, beer hall, restaurant and skating rink on the ground floor, thirty-three guest rooms and the innkeeper's apartment upstairs. A theatre in the courtyard wing served both inhabitants and visitors to the town. It was the first building in Szentes to have electric lighting and central heating. Its theatre was named in 1909 after József Tóth, a native of the town and one of the National Theatre's most important realist character actors. After the Second World War, the hostel gradually deteriorated and its interior was rebuilt without any regard for the original interior. The building was privatised after the change of regime, but it was not renovated and gradually fell into disrepair. In 2017, the building was renovated with the aim of restoring it to its original state in terms of windows, materials, colours, interior and exterior, while naturally adapting it to modern technical requirements and possibilities.

The District Court building was based on the plans of local architect József István Dobovszky. Construction began in 1910 with donations from the town's residents, and the building was inaugurated in the summer of 1912. The final move took place on 9 August 1913. It is interesting to note that for a long time, the building was the residence of the District Court's president. The building, which blends Art Nouveau and Eclectic styles, was taken over by the Hungarian State in 1950 and renovated, while its façade was renewed in 1974. In 1994, the District Court was burgled and set on fire. The building was renovated, modernised and made accessible in 2008.

In 1912, the Roman Catholic Elementary School was built in the Art Nouveau style, based on architect József István Dobovszky's plans. The three-storey building housed spacious, bright classrooms, teachers' apartments and rentable business premises. The number of primary school pupils ranged between 500 and 1100.
After nationalisation in 1948, the institution was renamed the Republic Square State Primary School and operated as a municipal boys' school and then as a district primary school for forty-five years.
In 1993, it was returned to the Church by agreement between the Church and the local government. The Bishop of Vác issued the founding document, according to which the school, renamed Saint Elisabeth Catholic Primary School, took over the pupils and teachers to continue its educational work under the authority of Szentes' Saint Anne's Parish. Reformed church in Upper Parti is an Art Nouveau church built in 1914, based on the plans of József István Dobovszky. Its exterior facade is in brick and decorated with artificial stone elements.

In the spring of 1908, Mrs István Rekettyés made a donation to the Roman Catholic Church in Szentes to build a chapel in the Calvary Cemetery. The church council's design competition was won by the young architect István Bene from Szentes.
The building, with a steepled nave and half-domed transepts, was completed by the end of the year. Installation of the bell, altar and interior decoration were completed years later, thanks to donations. The cemetery chapel's Art Nouveau architecture and wall surfaces are graceful, creating a striking effect on all sides in the area around the tombs.

The Calvinist House of Worship is a beautiful Art Nouveau building. Its floor plan and its perfectly proportioned turrets makes it one of the most valuable, renovated community buildings in any small town on the Great Plain. The building's façade is of plaster and brick, and it was built by József Borsos in 1906. This architect's career was closely linked to the Great Plain. The building's central triple windows with pilaster strips create a pattern that is repeated elsewhere.