The Memento Park (Szoborpark) logo
Memento Park (Szobor Park), also known as Statue Park, is a museum and exhibition in Budapest, including 42 statues, busts and sculptures from Hungary’s Communist period after the Second World War. The park was designed by Hungarian architect, Ákos Eleőd. In the open air section you can see statues of Lenin, Marx and Engels, as well as Hungarian Communist leaders such as Béla Kun, Endre Ságvári and Árpád Szakasits.
After the fall of the Communist regime in Hungary in 1989, many of the Communist statues and monuments were immediately removed. These formed the basis for the current collection in Statue Park. On the second anniversary of the withdrawal of the Russian troops from Hungarian territory, in 1993, the park celebrated its grand opening as a public, outdoor museum.
A communist statue in Memento Park (Szoborpark)
In 2006 a life-sized copy of the Stalin Monument from Felvonulási square (now called Ötvenhatosok square in memory of the 1956 revolution) next to Heroes’ Square (Hősök tere) was built in the Statue Park with the bronze boots on top of the pedestal. This is not an accurate copy of the original but an artistic interpretation by Ákos Eleőd in reference to the statue of Stalin that was pulled down in the 1956 revolution, leaving only Stalin’s boots on display.
In 2007 a new exhibition hall and small movie theatre were opened. The photo exhibition called ‘Stalin’s Boots‘ in the exhibition hall takes you through the history of the 1956 revolution and of the 1989-1990 political changes after the Communist rule, with both English and Hungarian captions. In the barrack theatre you can see ‘The life of an agent‘, a documentary on the methods used by the secret police, directed by Gábor Zsigmond Papp. The film is being shown with English subtitles.
The Béla Kun memorial in Memento Park (Szoborpark)
It is opened every day from 10 o’clock in the morning until sunset. The basic cost of entrance to Memento Park is 1,500 HUF plus 1,200 HUF for a guided tour which starts at 11:45 (There are tours every hour after that from March to October). For more information on Opening hours and tickets click here, and for more information on guided tours click here.
There is a special, direct ‘Memento Park bus‘ that leaves from Deák Ferenc square from the bus stop with the Memento Park timetable. Travel by public transport you have to take bus 150 from Kosztolányi Dezső square that drops you at the entrance of the Park. The Volán bus from Etele square leaves every 20 minutes from gate No.7, direction Diósd. Get off at the Memento Park bus stop, after an approximately 15 minute ride. For more information on getting to Memento Park follow this link.
It worth visiting the official Memento Park website, where you will find detailed and up-to-date information on the park, its history, media and public reception and the plans.
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