Szentendre open-air museum to get facelift

Szentendre's "Skanzen" open-air ethnographic museum is to be modernized through an investment of Ft 2 billion (over €7.8 million) provided by the EU and an additional Ft 222 million by the Hungarian state, according to a contract on the "Skanzen Heritage Program" countersigned last week by Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Gordon Bajnai and Minister of Education and Culture István Hiller.

The "Skanzen Heritage Program" includes four investments to be realized by the end of March 2010. The first step is to build one more "village" in addition to the existing seven representing typical architecture and lifestyles of Hungarian regions. The construction of the Northern Hungarian "village" will start this month and represent the region between the Ipoly and Hernád rivers and the lifestyle of the Palóc people. The open-air museum will later be given a new entrance building, which will be a reconstruction of the Mezőhegyes railway station based on original plans. Finally, a 2.4-kilometer "Skanzen Railway" will be built with five stations, and a museological workshop will be established to illustrate the methods of museum research to visitors.

The government approved an action plan proposed by the National Development Agency (NFÜ) involving more than 250 development projects in July of last year, writes napi.hu. These projects include the modernization of the Skanzen.

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