Plans of a new Visitor Centre at the Archaeological Park in Százhalombatta, Hungary. The latest multipurpose project for presenting Cultural Heritage.

Authors: E. Jerem / Z. Vasáros / M. Vicze

This year the Archaeological Park in Százhalombatta celebrates the tenth anniversary of its foundation. It is the first and only prehistoric open-air museum in Hungary. The first attraction of the Park was the on-site multimedia presentation of the conserved remains of the tomb in Iron Age tumulus no. 115. After this, we built reconstructions of a number of Bronze Age houses excavated at different sites, followed by the construction of the units of the Iron Age settlement. This latter is being continuously enlarged by the presentation of furnaces and kilns. Environmental reconstruction has an outstanding role in the Park, since we try to place the groups of houses into an environment that bears the characteristics of the contemporary landscape as well as to preserve or replant elements of the ancient vegetation.

There are also educational, experimental and special cultural activities in the Park, and yearly courses for archaeology students are organised. Weekend, summer, family and holiday programmes attract large numbers of visitors. To manage these events, we decided to build a Visitor Centre in the Park, which will serve the visitors with much better infrastructure, activity and research rooms and an up-to-date exhibition.

The plans for the Visitor Centre are ready, and its location has been designated. At present we seek partners and application opportunities to implement the plans. At the Projektbörse presentation, we focus on the special features of the Centre regarding its multipurpose uses and harmonious relationship with the environment.