MNM Forgách-Lipthay Kastélymúzeum

About the museum

The museum is housed in the main building of the Forgách–Lipthay Palace in Szécsény. The Baroque palace was built by Forgách Zsigmond or his brother János between 1753 and 1763, using the walls of a medieval town castle. It later belonged to the Pulszky family, then to Baron Lipthay Béla, and was restored between 1969 and 1977. The palace and its surroundings became a historic memorial site in 2011.

The museum was founded in 1973 to collect the archaeological and historical relics of Nógrád County and opened to the general public in the spring of 1975. From 1979 it bore the name of the archaeologist, natural scientist and politician Kubinyi Ferenc. Since 2022 it has operated as a branch institution of the Hungarian National Museum under the name Forgách–Lipthay Kastélymúzeum (Forgách–Lipthay Palace Museum).

The permanent exhibitions on the upper floor take visitors from the Bronze Age finds, through the medieval castles of Nógrád and the events of the Rákóczi War of Independence in Nógrád, to the interior of a late 19th-century palace. The ground floor houses a library, a reading room, work rooms and a display store. The palace’s former English park is now a nature conservation area.

Highlights

• Tárgyakba zárt múlt (Past Enclosed in Objects) – Bronze Age archaeological exhibition
• “Vár állott…” – the medieval castles of Nógrád
• Rákóczi állama és Nógrád vármegye (Rákóczi’s State and Nógrád County)
• Women’s suite of a late 19th-century palace interior
• Baroque Forgách Palace, a listed building of national importance

Permanent exhibitions

• Tárgyakba zárt múlt – The exhibition, completed in 2006, presents the museum’s prehistoric archaeological collection and leads visitors into the Bronze Age.
• Vár állott… – vártörténeti kiállítás – The exhibition presents the medieval castles of Nógrád through the surviving buildings and ruins, the destroyed structures, with finds and models.
• Rákóczi állama és Nógrád vármegye – The exhibition focuses on two events of the Rákóczi War of Independence in Nógrád: the Diet of Szécsény in 1705 and the battle of Romhány in January 1710.

Founded

1973

Operated by

Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum

Director

Varga István

Admission & discounts

Free admission: On Hungary’s national holidays (15 March, 20 August, 23 October) all exhibitions are free; on the last Sunday of every month the permanent exhibitions are free for visitors under 26 and for up to two close relatives accompanying a child under 18.

Holders of the Szécsény City Card receive a 10% discount. Admission is free for teachers, journalists and holders of an ICOM card; a 50% discount applies to women who retired under the “Nők 40” programme. Prices are per person and include VAT.

Accessibility

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Kids & families

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Getting there & parking

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Amenities & dining

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Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent
• Private parties
• Corporate events
• Weddings / ceremonies

Up to 90 guests.

The 110 m² ceremonial hall, which holds 90 people, and the lecture hall, which holds 50 people, can be rented for conferences, company events, training courses and family celebrations; civil ceremonies can be held in the ceremonial hall or in the ceremonial courtyard. The gross daily rental of the ceremonial hall is HUF 100,000, and that of the lecture hall HUF 50,000.

Plan your visit