358 CENTRAL EASTERN EUROPE
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp390–93 and pp394–7
E Margit Kovács
Ceramics Collection
Vastagh György utca 1. Tel (026)
310 244. # 9am–5pm Tue–Sun.
& 7
This striking 18th-century
building (Kovács Margit
Kerámiagyűjtemény) was origi-
nally a salt storage facility,
and later became a vicar age
for the Blagoveštenska Church.
Since 1973 it has been devoted
to the work of ceramic artist
Margit Kovács (1902–77).
Kovács attended Budapest’s
School of Applied
Arts before learning
the funda mentals of
pottery in the work-
shop of artist Herta
Bücher in Vienna.
She devel op ed her
skills further in the
State School for
Applied Arts in
Munich before
return ing to
Hungary. Nursing
(1948) is an exam-
ple of Kovács’s obsession with
the Madonna, a common
theme in many of her early
works, while the Bread Cutter
(1962) is a witty satire on the
ideal ized peasant woman
from a feminist perspective.
E Barcsay Collection
Dumtsa Jenő utca 10. Tel (026) 310
Mid-Mar–Sep: Tue–Sun
9am–5pm; Oct–mid-Mar: Wed–Sun
1–5pm. &
Barcsay Collection (Barcsay
Gyűjtemény), located in a
19th-century Saxon house, is
dedicated to Jenő Barcsay
(1900–88), who settled in
Szentendre in 1926 after study-
ing art in Budapest and Paris.
Regarded as the first Hungarian
E Hungarian Open-Air
Museum
Sztaravodai út. Tel (026) 502 500.
@ 7. # Apr–Nov: 9am–5pm Tue–
Sun. & 8 7 http://www.skanzen.hu
Hungary’s largest and best
open-air village museum
(Szabadtéri Néprajzi Múzeum)
is 4 km (2 miles) from
Szentendre. The
museum, opened
in 1967, is spread
over 55 ha (136
acres) and features
a recon structed
village from each
of Hungary’s five
historic regions.
Each of the vil-
lages is complete
and self-contained,
comprising houses,
churches, schools, mills, wine
presses, forges and stables.
In parti c ular, it is worth see-
ing the three huge outdoor
ovens in the village of the
Great Plain, brought to the
museum from the village of
Kisbodak; the roadside
crucifixes in the central
Transdanubian village; and
the flintstone walls of the
Bakony region houses.
All the buildings in the
museum are open to the
public, and some are working
museums, with artisans
demon strating traditional skills
from pottery to wine-making.
Special courses in traditional
skills are also on offer at
various times of the year.Plaque, Margit Kovács
Ceramics CollectionA thatched building in the Hungarian Open-Air Museum
Constructivist, he strongly
influenced his contemporaries.
His finest works, including
Landscape at Szentendre
(1934) and Street at Szentendre
(1932), are displayed here.Gödöllő 3
35 km (22 miles) NE of Budapest.
* 29,000. £ HÉV from Budapest.
n Tour in form, Királyi Kastély, (028)
415 402.Once the summer residence
of the Habsburgs, Gödöllő
is most famous for the Royal
Palace, built in 1741. The
enchanting Baroque palace
was com mis sioned by the
flamboyant aristocrat Antal
Grassalkovich I and designed
by Andras Meyerhoffer.
Home to a long line of
Hungarian rulers from
Emperor Franz Joseph to
Admiral Horthy, the palace
has been restored to its full
glory. Elegant rooms and
extravagant furnish ings offer a
glimpse into the lives of the
rulers who lived here.
The oldest building in the
town, dating from 1661, was
once the home of local land-
owner Ferenc Hamvay. Today,
it houses the excellent Gödöllő
Town Museum. Besides
displays that tell the story of
the town and its greatest
patron, Antal Grassalkovich,
there is an exhibition focusing
on the works of the Gödöllő
Artists’ Colony, a group of
artists active between 1901
and 1920, who pursued ideals
of communal rural living.
E Royal Palace
Királyi Kastély. Tel (028) 410
Apr–Oct: 10am–6pm daily;
Non–Mar: 10am–5pm Tue–Sun. &
8 7 - =
E Gödöllő Town Museum
Szabadszág tér 5. Tel (028) 422
10am–6pm Tue–Sun. &
8 Hungarian only.
The façade of the Baroque Royal
Palace at Gödöllő