Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Preobraženska Church
At the end ofBogdányi utca the
PreobraženskaChurch
,onVujicsics Tihamér tér,was erec-
ted by the tanners' guild in 1741-76, and its stoutness enhanced by a Louis XVI gate the
following century. Though its lavish iconostasis merits a look, the church is chiefly notable
for its role in the Serbian festival on August 19, when it hosts the Blessing of the Grapes ce-
remony, recalling Szentendre's past as a wine-producing centre. A few minutes' walk further
on, the
Vinegrowers' Cross
was raised by a local guild and is fittingly wreathed in grapev-
ines.
The Hungarian Open-Air Museum
Szabadtéri Néprajzi Múzeum • April-Oct Tues-Sun 9am-5pm; Nov to mid-Dec Sat & Sun 10am-4pm •
1800Ft; tickets for train inside museum 500Ft • 26 502 500,
skanzen.hu
• Buses leave from stand 7 at the
Szentendre bus station.
Set in rolling countryside 4km north of town, the amazing
Hungarian Open-Air Museum
should not be missed. This museum is Hungary's largest outdoor museum of peasant archi-
tecture (termed a
skanzen
, after the first such museum, founded in a Stockholm suburb in
1891).
It takes at least two hours to tour the naturalistic village ensembles transported here from
eight ethnographic regions of Hungary, representing rural life from the nineteenth century up
until the 1920s and complete with dwellings, demonstrations of cottage industries and tradi-
tional breeds of livestock in barns. Each building has a custodian who can explain everything
in detail, though usually only in Hungarian. The various areas are connected by a mini-rail-
way, which makes it easier to cover the large site. Demonstrations of
crafts
such as pottery,
weaving and boot-making occur in each section at weekends and during
festivals
, of which
there are several throughout the year; these include the Pentecostal Games (end of May), a
culinary Feast of the Soil (Aug 11), and two wine festivals (Sept & Nov).
Upper Tisza
Downhill to the right from the entrance, a village from the isolated
Upper Tisza
region in
the northeast corner of the country reveals that the homes of the poorest squires were barely
superior to those of their tenants, yet rural carpenters produced highly skilled work, such as
the circular “dry mill”, the wooden bell tower, and the Greek Catholic church (on a hilltop
beyond). Past the Calvinist graveyard with its boat-shaped grave-markers, signs point you to
the scant remains of a Roman village and on to the next region.
Northern Hungary
The following region takes you to the region northwest of Budapest:
NorthernHungary
in-
cludes an original stone house furnished in nineteenth-century style and recreates cave dwell-
ings typical of the poorer parts of the region. You can also taste or get recipes for “Palóc”
delicacies - the Palóc people being an ethnic Hungarian group retaining its own traditions,
with a distinctive dialect to match.
