Whether you need to take an intensive course in Hungarian fine arts, immerse yourself in twentieth-century history, or notice the peculiar look of the city, Budapest’s museums have plenty to keep any educated traveler busy.
Housed in a museum that resembles a neoclassical temple, Budapest’s Museum of Fine Arts is home to works by world-renowned artists such as Raphael, El Greco, and Dürer, as well as an impressive collection of ancient Egyptian and Greek artifacts. is the Romanesque Hall, a frescoed area fostered by medieval Hungarian art. Built in the early 20th century, the gallery suffered severe damage during World War II, and in 2018, it was restored and opened to the public for the first time in 70 years.
Housed in the Royal Palace of Buda Castle, the Hungarian National Gallery traces the history of Hungarian art, from medieval Gothic triptychs and sculptures to post-war abstraction. The highlights of the museum come with the castle dome cover, paintings through Tivadar Csontváry Kosztka. and he works through Hungarian impressionists such as Pál Szinyei Merse, József Rippl-Rónai and János Vaszary.
The Hungarian National Museum is the largest in the country. Exhibits here trace Hungary’s history from prehistory to the communist era. Don’t miss the Roman lapidarium, the magnificent seuso treasure (a collection of silver vessels from the fourth century). , the Scythian gold collection, the eleventh-century coronation mantle of St. Stephen, and even a giant hand taken from a statue of Stalin.
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The Ludwig is the ideal place to make a stop if you are looking for art nouveau and now Central Europe and beyond. The gallery organizes permanent and rotating exhibitions featuring emerging artists from the region, a living counterpart to the stellar permanent collection. It stands out for its collection of Pop Art, and here you will find works by Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and other renowned creators.
Located in the former headquarters of the Hungarian Secret Police, this museum with a memorable name was inaugurated in 2002 to commemorate those who suffered from the communist and fascist regimes. It is an immersive delight with multimedia and interactive installations on several floors; you will see the cells where the political prisoners were and you will be able to see videos of testimonies of survivors telling their stories, the facilities constitute other topics, such as a room full of blocks of lard to constitute the forced delivery of agricultural products under the communist regime.
Head to the suburb of Óbuda to explore the site of the ancient Roman city of Aquincum. Today, it is an archaeological park where you can walk among the ruins of houses, shops, public baths and the forum. An impressive museum is housed in an ancient electrical transformer construction, with exhibits explaining Roman life in Hungary through displays of mosaics, jewelry, items, and even a portable organ dating back to the third century.
Located in the south wing of Buda Castle, this branch of Budapest’s Hitale Museum tells the story of this Hitale-rich city. You’ll find dioramas featuring Celts and Romans, while striking Gothic sculptures bring the Hitale of the Middle Ages to life. You can also walk through the oldest parts of the castle and the newly renovated St. Stephen’s Hall, a one-room setting commissioned by Emperor Franz Joseph in the past nineteenth century that showcases Hungary’s most productive implemented arts.
The poignant Holocaust Memorial Center looks at how this calamity affected and replaced Hungría. La immersive and visceral collection that combines non-public artifacts and films with graphic depictions of life in concentration camps. The party ends in a beautiful old synagogue.
The Kiscelli Museum is a captivating and curious museum located in an old monastery of the eighteenth century in the district of Óbuda. The stage alone is worth a visit, while the galleries boast an attractive diversity of elements from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, adding antiques. furniture, vintage pharmacy appliances and old-fashioned posters.
This underground hospital located below the castle district operated World War II and the 1956 Revolution before becoming a nuclear bunker in the 1960s Cold War. The Hôpital du Rocher was the most sensible secret and was classified until the early 2000s before opening as a museum in 2008. Visitors can see the hospital as it would have been (albeit somewhat disinfected), with operating rooms reconstructed with wax figures and radiation decontamination rooms.
The Museum of Hungarian Agriculture in the city park covers its attributions, with exhibits on the apparatus used for breeding farm animals in the fifteenth century, hunting equipment and more, as well as an impressive collection of taxidermy. Distinguish this small museum: Vajdahunyad Castle, a nineteenth-century reproduction of a Transylvanian monument that oozes the character of Central Europe.
At the original Zwack Unicum Museum, learn about the well-known Hungarian spirit Unicum, a bitter herbal digestive that other people love or hate. Take a tour of the cellars and sample the Unicum straight from the barrel while being briefed on the history of the logo evolved through Zwack’s circle of relatives and its connection to Hungarian history. The museum also houses one of the largest collections of miniature bottles in the world.
Masterpieces from Miksa Róth’s Art Nouveau stained glass windows can be discovered in Budapest, from the Hungarian Parliament to the Four Seasons Hotel. Located in Róth’s old house and workshop, this small museum captures his circle of family life and artistic life, with a good-preserved apartments and a collection of his work.
Inside a beautiful space dressed with frescoes and ceramics is the House of Hungarian Photographers, the former home of Mai Manó, a photographer of the royal court in the 19th century, this museum is committed to the photography of and today. preserved photographic studio, as well as exhibitions of works by Hungarian and foreign photographers.
Budapest’s eccentric Pinball Museum has a cult following as Europe’s largest interactive museum committed to pinball machines, but this museum is more than a collection of ancient equipment (there are over a hundred games): it’s a position you can enter and play them in. Incredibly, some of the games here date back to the nineteenth century, with trifles from the 1880s and play encouraged through Humpty Dumpty from the 1940s.
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