Lyceum, Eger, Educational building in Eger, Hungary.
The Lyceum is an educational building in Eger featuring Zopf-style architecture with a distinctive tower rising prominently above its main structure. Inside, various facilities including an extensive library, an astronomy museum, and university spaces are distributed across several floors.
Construction started in 1785 under architect Josef Gerl and was continued later by Jakab Fellner and József Grossmann. These architectural changes over the decades reflected the evolving needs of the educational institution.
The library on the first floor holds about 160,000 books, including rare manuscripts and medical texts from centuries past. Visitors can see these collections displayed in their original spaces throughout the building.
The building serves as the main campus of Eszterházy Károly Catholic University and welcomes visitors to explore various exhibitions, including scientific and astronomical displays. Most areas are accessible throughout the year, though visiting times may vary.
The tower contains a working 18th-century camera obscura system that projects real-time views of Eger onto an observation table through a periscope mechanism. This optical device was a way people observed the world long before modern photography was invented.
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