Pásztói Múzeum
Natural history-oriented museum in the Baroque Cistercian monastery, with a medieval ruin garden, a glassworks and the Oskolamester House.
Have only individual sections read aloud
About the museum
The Pásztói Múzeum opened on 1 October 1984. It was founded together with the opening of the Oskolamester House, a 15th-century residential building whose cellar houses an exhibition on medieval viticulture. Until 1968 the cantor-teacher and his family lived there. The medieval glassworks and smithy excavated in the historic town centre became an open-air exhibition site, a unique industrial-history monument in Hungary.
The permanent and temporary exhibitions are housed in the Baroque Cistercian monastery building, rebuilt in 1717–1718. The monastery functioned until the mid-20th century; afterwards a machine station, an industrial school, a kindergarten and a library were housed in it, and since 1997 it has been used entirely by the museum. The excavations, the ruin garden and the exhibition sites were developed thanks to the archaeologist Ilona Valter, honorary citizen of Pásztó.
The museum also operates as a thematic natural history museum: the Nógrád County Natural Science Collection comprises some sixteen thousand minerals, rocks and fossils, mainly from Nógrád County and Northern Hungary. In 1999 the museum placed third in the Museum of the Year competition, and in 2009 it received a national award for museum education.
Highlights
- History of the Cistercian order in the Middle Ages – permanent exhibition
- Natural Science Collection with minerals and fossils
- Pásztó Through the Centuries – town history from the Bronze Age to the 20th century
- Rajeczky Benjamin Memorial Room
- Medieval Ruin Garden with glassworks and smithy
- Oskolamester House with an exhibition on medieval viticulture
Permanent exhibitions
- Ciszterci rend története a középkorban – Exhibition on the origin of the order, its spread across Europe and the Cistercian houses in Hungary, and finds from the excavations of the Pásztó abbey, with trilingual display panels.
- Természetudományi Gyűjtemény – The collection of minerals, rocks and fossils from Nógrád County, including Miocene shells and plant fossils.
- Pásztói évszázadok – Local history exhibition on the town and its surroundings from the Bronze Age to the 20th century, with a restored 19th-century guild banner.
- Founded
- 1984
Admission & discounts
| Adults | HUF 2,000 |
|---|---|
| Reduced | HUF 1,000students aged 6–26 and pensioners aged 63–70 |
| Children & teens | HUF 1,000free up to age 5 · Students aged 6–26 may buy a student ticket; admission is free for children under 6. |
| Seniors | HUF 1,000For pensioners aged 63–70; those over 70 enter free. |
| Visitors with disabilities | freecompanion free · People with disabilities and one companion enter free. |
| Students & apprentices | HUF 1,000For students aged 6–26. |
| Groups (10+ people) | –Groups of more than ten people must register at least three days in advance. |
| Chamber exhibition – adult | HUF 1,000 |
| Chamber exhibition – student, pensioner | HUF 500 |
| Professional guided tour for groups (up to 25 people) | HUF 5,000From 26 people: HUF 7,500. |
| Museum education session | HUF 500Per person per session, in addition to the admission ticket; reduced rate for kindergartens and nurseries in Pásztó and the microregion HUF 300 per person, schools HUF 400 per person. |
| Occasional photography | HUF 5,000 |
Free admission: On the last Saturday of every month, visitors under 26 and up to two close relatives accompanying a child under 18 may visit the museum free of charge.
Admission is free for children under 6, people over 70, people with disabilities and one companion, teachers, holders of ICOM, ICOMOS and ICCROM cards, journalists, and guides accompanying groups of more than ten people. Eligibility for the concessions for EEA citizens must be shown.
Accessibility
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Kids & families
| Kids’ admission | free up to age 5 |
|---|
- Family tours & workshops
- Kids’ birthday parties
Museum education sessions, a museum day camp, a palaeontology research camp, and birthday celebrations in the museum.
Getting there & parking
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Amenities & dining
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Events & venue rental
- Spaces for rent
A room can be rented on each occasion for HUF 10,000.
Plan your visit
| Guided tours | yes |
|---|---|
| School programs | yes |
| Good to know | The museum offers guided group tours and museum education sessions (for schools and kindergartens), as well as camps. |
