Budapest Guide
Lipótváros and Újlipótváros
Museum of Ethnography
Opening time: Tues– Sun 10am–6pm
Price: 800Ft
Address: Kossuth tér
Website: www.neprajz.hu
Little visited by tourists, the Museum of Ethnography (Néprajzi Múzeum) is actually one of the finest museums in Budapest, originally built as the Palace of the Supreme Court; petitioners would have been overawed by its lofty, gilded main hall, whose ceiling bears a fresco of the goddess Justitia surrounded by allegories of Justice, Peace, Revenge and Sin.
The museum's permanent exhibition on Hungarian folk culture occupies thirteen rooms on the first floor (off the left-hand staircase) and is fully captioned in English, with an excellent catalogue available. Habsburg-ruled Hungary comprised a dozen ethnic groups, represented by exhibits arranged under headings such as "Institutions" and "Peasant Work"; the only groups not represented are the Jews and the Gypsies. Though the beautiful costumes and objects on display are no longer part of everyday life in Hungary, you can still see them in parts of Romania, such as Maramureş and the Kalotaszeg, which belonged to Hungary before 1920.
Temporary exhibitions (on the ground and second floors) cover anything from Hindu rituals to musical instruments from around the world, while over Easter and Christmas there are concerts of Hungarian folk music and dancing, and craft fairs.