Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
TOP SIGHT
AQUINCUM
Aquincum, the most complete Roman civilian town in Hungary and now both
an enclosed museum and open-air archaeological park, had paved streets
and sumptuous single-storey houses with courtyards, fountains and mosaic
floors, as well as sophisticated drainage and heating systems. Not all that is
apparent today as you walk among the ruins, but you can see its outlines as
well as those of the big public baths, the macellum (market), an early Christi-
an church and a temple dedicated to the god Mithra, the chief deity of a reli-
gion that once rivalled Christianity.
The newly built
Aquincum Museum
(Aquincumi Múzeum), on the southwestern edge of
what remains of the Roman civilian settlement, puts the ruins in perspective, with a vast col-
lection of coins and wall paintings and some tremendous virtual games such as battling with
a gladiator in the basement. Look out for the replica of a 3rd-century portable organ called a
hydra, the mock-up of a Roman bath, the road map of the Roman Empire (
Tabula Peutin-
geriana
) and the wonderful
Painter's House
, a recreated Roman dwelling. Most of the big
sculptures and stone sarcophagi are outside in the park to the north or in the lapidary in the
old museum building. Across Szentendrei út to the northwest and close to the HÉV stop is
the
Roman Civilian Amphitheatre
(Római polgári amfiteátrum), about half the size of the
amphitheatre reserved for the garrisons and seating 3000. Lions were kept in the small cu-
bicles while slain gladiators were carried through the 'Gate of Death' to the west.
