Göcseji Skanzen

About the museum

Construction of the Göcseji Falumúzeum, also known as the Göcseji Skanzen, began in 1963. The academic plan for the open-air exhibition presenting Göcsej folk architecture was prepared by Barabás Jenő, Szentmihályi Imre and Tóth János. The country’s first open-air ethnographic museum opened on 20 August 1968. Over the following decade, four peasant farmsteads preserved in their original places and furnished as museums joined it, in Káva, Csesztreg, Zalalövő and Dömeföld.

The open-air museum now consists of forty buildings: dwelling houses, a wooden church, stables, barns, pig sties, a pálinka distilling hut, vineyard cellars and roadside crosses, along with several hundred furnishings. Most of the buildings were relocated from the small villages of Göcsej, dismantled, transported here and rebuilt beside the Zala oxbow lake. The water mill already stood here earlier: its northern, wooden part dates from the 18th century, and its southern half was built in 1902.

The museum is in fact an imagined village whose buildings never stood together, yet they authentically evoke the single-street settlement type of the late 19th century and the world in which several generations lived under one roof. The open-air museum also has the Zöld ösvény (Green Trail), a nature trail that teaches about composting, drying fruit and folk games, while the fish and bird observation point offers a chance to get to know nature. The western neighbour of the open-air museum is the Magyar Olaj- és Gázipari Múzeum (Hungarian Oil and Gas Industry Museum).

Highlights

• Forty relocated Göcsej buildings
• The country’s first open-air ethnographic museum, since 1968
• Wooden church, water mill and vineyard cellars
• Zöld ösvény (Green Trail), a nature trail for children
• One ticket also gives access to the neighbouring oil-industry museum

Permanent exhibition

• Göcseji Skanzen – Forty relocated Göcsej buildings and several hundred furnishings show folk architecture and village life at the end of the 19th century.

Founded

1968

Operated by

Zalaegerszegi Múzeumok Igazgatósága

Admission & discounts

Free admission: On 15 March, 20 August and 23 October (for everyone); on the second Sunday of every month during summer opening hours, and on the second Saturday of the month in winter, visitors under 26 and up to two close relatives accompanying a child under 18.

Visitors who enter free of charge must pay a HUF 900 service fee for the services (children under 6 and people with disabilities are exempt). Admission is also free for children under 6 and visitors over 70, for teachers working in the EEA who hold a teacher’s card, and for ICOM and ICOMOS members. Payment in cash, by bank card and with the SZÉP card.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

The exhibition areas of the Göcseji Falumúzeum are accessible for visitors with reduced mobility. There is a large car park in front of the open-air museum, but no designated parking space for disabled drivers yet.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops

Family programmes, children’s camps, the Zöld ösvény nature trail; family adult ticket for adults arriving with a child.

Getting there & parking

About 20 minutes on foot from the Göcseji Múzeum; 3 kilometres from the railway station.

Amenities & dining

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit