Városliget and Vajdahunyad Castle

The Heroes’ square is adjacent to the amazing City Park Városliget and Vajdahunyad Castle. The Park includes the Budapest Zoo, a Botanical Garden, a transport museum, the famous Széchenyi Baths, the Varosliget castle, today a museum of Hungarian agricultural , soccer fields, restaurants, a beer tent, a skating ring, a lake with ducks that one can boat in the summer or skate in the winter and huge green and picnic areas… Probably more than enough for one day.

The beauty and romance of Városliget has inspired countless painters and graphic designers over the centuries. There were those who painted a whole series about the Park (e.g. Antal Diósy, János Kmetty, József Nemes Lampérth), but most of the artists captured only one moment of the atmosphere of the City Park. A bouquet of these paintings and drawings, can be found in the park, a collection that continues to grow by the day. More

Vajdahunyad Castle isn’t just a castle. It’s an architectural homage to 21 different buildings, among them a church and a castle with ties to the Dracula myth. The castle was designed to celebrate the Hungarian State’s 1,000th birthday, built using wood planks and flimsy cardboard. As public adoration for the structure grew, it was eventually rebuilt with sturdier materials.

When the decision about the reconstruction of the popular Vajdahunyad Castle to be built of durable material was made, there was no question about the function of the reconstructed building. Alpár already modified the construction plans in such a way as to accommodate every requirement for a museum. As a result, on 9 June 1907 the Hungarian Royal Agricultural Museum was able to occupy the building in the middle of City Park.

Today the Museum and Library of Hungarian Agriculture displays the history of agriculture in way that is unique in Europe. Its experts curate nine permanent and a great number of temporary exhibitions.

With its 40 collections it showcases the history and development of Hungarian agriculture, forestry, hunting and fishing, viticulture, domestication, Hungarian flora and horse breeding. Admire the chronologically organised stag, deer and boar trophies, some of which are world record setters. The tower tour and castle walks will provide information about the structure and the history of the castle.

The more than a century-old history of the Museum and Library of Hungarian Agriculture is full of calamities and damages suffered during the two World Wars, but today it proudly continues to present Hungary’s rich agricultural history and its hidden treasures.