Open-air Ethnographic Museum, Open-air folk museum in Szentendre, Hungary
The Hungarian Open Air Museum in Szentendre is Hungary's largest open-air ethnographic museum, covering 75 hectares. Its permanent exhibition presents folk architecture, housing culture, farming and way of life of the Hungarian-speaking area from the mid-18th to the mid-20th century, arranged by regional units. The site holds original and relocated buildings, authentic replicas, houses, outbuildings, mills and churches, set in the Sztaravoda valley within the Duna–Ipoly National Park.
The museum was founded in 1967 as part of the Budapest Ethnographic Museum to preserve traditional Hungarian structures and ways of life. It became one of the country's major institutions for documenting rural architecture and culture.
The permanent exhibition is organised into eight regional areas, from the North Hungarian Village to the Great Plains and Kisalföld, plus later units for the medieval village, the 20th-century village and Transylvania, opened in May 2022. Buildings are shown in settlement layouts typical of each region, and craft demonstrations, dancing and folk music take place in summer.
The museum is open all year round, though programmes and events vary with the seasons. The site lies on the southeastern slopes of the Visegrád Hills in the Sztaravoda valley, within the Duna–Ipoly National Park, and is reached from the Sztaravodai road towards Lajos-forrás and Dömör-kapu. The grounds are large, so allow time to walk between the regional units.
Every building on the museum grounds was completely dismantled at its original location and then reconstructed using detailed architectural documentation. This painstaking process ensures the structures are historically accurate and authentically rebuilt.
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