Memento Park

Budapest, Hungary

Memento Park is an open-air museum in Budapest, dedicated to monumental statues from Hungary's Communist period (1949–1989). There are statues of Lenin, Marx, and Engels, as well as several Hungarian Communist leaders. The park was designed by Hungarian architect Ákos Eleőd, who won the competition announced by the Budapest General Assembly in 1991.

Memento Park is divided into two sections: Statue Park, officially named “A Sentence About Tyranny” Park after a poem of the same name by Gyula Ilyés, and Witness Square (also called 'Neverwas Square'). Statue Park houses 42 of the statues that were removed from Budapest after the fall of communism. Witness Square holds a replica of Stalin's Boots which became a symbol of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 after the statue of Stalin was pulled down from its pedestal in 1956.

References:

Comments

Your name


Address

Balatoni út, Budapest, Hungary
See all sites in Budapest

Details

Founded: 1991
Category: Museums in Hungary

More Information

visitbudapest.travel
www.budapestinfo.org
www.mementopark.hu
en.wikipedia.org

Rating

3.9/5 (based on Google user reviews)

Interesting Sites Nearby


Citadella (7,6 km)
Gellért Hill Cave (7,7 km)
Nagytétény Castle (4,1 km)


Matthias Church (8,8 km)
Fisherman's Bastion (8,8 km)
St. Stephen's Basilica (9,3 km)
Hungarian Parliament Building (9,6 km)
Hungarian National Gallery (8,4 km)
Buda Castle (8,3 km)
Heroes' Square (11,5 km)
Dohány Street Synagogue (9 km)
Hungarian State Opera House (9,6 km)

User Reviews

Beth Gabor (3 months ago)
Fascinating & important place. I love that Stalin's boots recreation are outside the gates and free for all to see.
Balazs Vincze (4 months ago)
Overall liked it. But this place could attract foreign tourists, with more signs placed in English. Perhaps subtitle the cinema in English. And I know this is just me, but a T34 placed somewhere would attract many more children. However I know the parks resources are limited.
Marc Codreanu (4 months ago)
Interesting to see and learn the history of Communism in Hungary.
Kamil Brzakala (5 months ago)
A great idea. The park it self is quite small it's only around 20 sculptures but some of them like Stalin's shoes are quite impressive. There's also an informative exhibition in a tent outside.
Michael Monaco (10 months ago)
A very interesting and culturally enlightening experience. I visited with my wife and her family and we had a great time. It’s a bit of a trip out of the city which we really liked. Great atmosphere and when we visited it was a bit drizzly which gave it a very USSR feel.
Powered by Google

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Most beautiful castles in Lithuania
Photo from Flickr, copyright Giåm

Historic Site of the week

Glimmingehus

Glimmingehus is the best preserved medieval stronghold in Scandinavia. It was built 1499-1506, during an era when Scania formed a vital part of Denmark, and contains many defensive arrangements of the era, such as parapets, false doors and dead-end corridors, 'murder-holes' for pouring boiling pitch over the attackers, moats, drawbridges and various other forms of death traps to surprise trespassers and protect the nobles against peasant uprisings. The lower part of the castle's stone walls are 2.4 meters (94 inches) thick and the upper part 1.8 meters (71 inches).

Construction was started in 1499 by the Danish knight Jens Holgersen Ulfstand and stone-cutter-mason and architect Adam van Düren, a North German master who also worked on Lund Cathedral. Construction was completed in 1506.

Ulfstand was a councillor, nobleman and admiral serving under John I of Denmark and many objects have been uncovered during archeological excavations that demonstrate the extravagant lifestyle of the knight's family at Glimmingehus up until Ulfstand's death in 1523. Some of the most expensive objects for sale in Europe during this period, such as Venetian glass, painted glass from the Rhine district and Spanish ceramics have been found here. Evidence of the family's wealth can also be seen inside the stone fortress, where everyday comforts for the knight's family included hot air channels in the walls and bench seats in the window recesses. Although considered comfortable for its period, it has also been argued that Glimmingehus was an expression of "Knighthood nostalgia" and not considered opulent or progressive enough even to the knight's contemporaries and especially not to later generations of the Scanian nobility. Glimmingehus is thought to have served as a residential castle for only a few generations before being transformed into a storage facility for grain.

An order from Charles XI to the administrators of the Swedish dominion of Scania in 1676 to demolish the castle, in order to ensure that it would not fall into the hands of the Danish king during the Scanian War, could not be executed. A first attempt, in which 20 Scanian farmers were ordered to assist, proved unsuccessful. An additional force of 130 men were sent to Glimmingehus to execute the order in a second attempt. However, before they could carry out the order, a Danish-Dutch naval division arrived in Ystad, and the Swedes had to abandon the demolition attempts. Throughout the 18th century the castle was used as deposit for agricultural produce and in 1924 it was donated to the Swedish state. Today it is administered by the Swedish National Heritage Board.

On site there is a museum, medieval kitchen, shop and restaurant and coffee house. During summer time there are several guided tours daily. In local folklore, the castle is described as haunted by multiple ghosts and the tradition of storytelling inspired by the castle is continued in the summer events at the castle called "Strange stories and terrifying tales".

Map Top Sights Tags Historical Periods City Guides About Us Sign Up Upload new site
© 2021 SpottingHistory.com. All rights reserved.