Memento Mori Crypt Finds 2600 Vác, Március 15. tér 19.+36 30 555 7620 info@muzeumvac.hu www.muzeumvac.hu/ During the renovation process of the Dominican Church in Vác a priceless treasure of cultural history came to daylight in 1994 when construction workers stumbled upon the entrance, walled up 150 years ago, to a stairway leading to the crypt under the church. In the crypt there were 262 colourful, ornate coffins, mostly in good condition, with the spontaneously mummified bodies of citizens of Vác, who died in the period from the second half of the 18th to the beginning of the 19th century. | ||||||
|
Owing to the special climate the bodies of the men, women, children, craftsmen, monks, priests, army officials, and clerks buried there have remained in good condition. Some of the coffins and burial accessories – rosaries, crucifixes, icons, coins, scapulars – can be seen in the „Memento Mori” Exhibition of the museum. A significant part of the 1800 finds from the crypt are still being restored or sitting in the warehouse waiting to be shown in a new permanent exhibition (textiles, footwear). The permanent exhibition, was located in the medieval vault of a house on the Main Square. The first thing a visitor descending on the steep staircase into the depth of the cold cellar can see is a view of early Vác and the list of names of the citizens who could be identified based on their coffin inscription. In the small room to the left of the entrance reconstruction drawings of funerary rituals, copies of archival documents, and some older coffins are on show. In the imposing hall of the vault, painted colourful (yellow, grey, brown) adult coffins and (blue, green) children’s coffins have been placed. The images of Christ, the religious symbols and symbols of death on the coffins refer to the religious views and the relation to death of the men of the period. In the back of the room in glass coffins lie György Stefanovics, a tailor, a middle aged woman of unknown name and an infant, all wearing attire reconstructed based on the originals. Visitors thus get a glimpse of burial and funerary traditions of the period between the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century. Summer opening hours: Tuesday - Sunday: 10.00 am - 6:00 pm Winter opening hours (from November to March): Tuesday - Sunday: 10.00 am - 5:00 pm
Tickets: MEMENTO MORI & ARS MEMORANDI Full price: HUF 1.200 50% discount (only for citizens of the European Economic Area): youths aged 6–26 years and senior citizens over the age of 62 years: HUF 600 family ticket (for 2 adults and 2-3 children): HUF 2.600 Combined tickets A, from March to November (all exhibitions): Full price: HUF 3.600 Discount price: HUF 1.800 Combined tickets B, 3 exhibitions (MEMENTO MORI & ARS MEMORANDI, Pannonia House, 3rd is free choice): Full price: HUF 2.200 Discount price: HUF 1.100 Fees for Guided Tours: in Hungarian for Students: HUF 3.500/group in Hungarian for Adults: HUF 6.500/group in other languages: HUF 9.500/group
Photo ticket: 500 HUF The use of flash photography is prohibited.
Free admission and Concessions Admission is free to both permanent and temporary exhibitions for: children under 6; Persons with disabilities and their carers (1 for each disabled person) Permanent and temporary exhibitions are to be visited at 50% discount for EEA citizens: a) from the age of 6 until the age of 26, b) over the age of 62, c) accompanying at least two persons under 18, who are – according to Article 685 § point b) of the Civil Code – part of their close family (2 people at most), with the exception of the case included in point b) paragraph (2). (2) Admission to permanent exhibitions of the museums on one weekend every month is free on the day specified by the museum (the first Sunday of every month) for the EEA citizen: a) under 26, b) accompanying an 18 year old person, who according to the Act of 1959 IV about the Civil code article 685. § point b), is a close relative (2 persons at most). |
||||||
|
