The old side of town, Buda (as opposed to Pest) rises up from the Danube and is covered in impressive ancient buildings. We were wandering behind Buda castle in the afternoon and stumbled upon the entrance to the Labyrinth museum. Quite easy to miss if you're not looking for it . Just a small cave-like entrance that leads up a stone-lined tunnel inside the hill with pictures of different labyrinths lining the walls. I had read that a series of caves existed underneath the castle which were open to the public but was unsure what to expect.
Reading the history of the Labyrinth once we arrived at the ticket office we discovered they began as naturally formed small caves caused by thermal springs. They were later joined and extended once the castle district was built above and used for wine cellers, torture chambers, jails and military storage throughout the middle ages. In the 1930's during the war it was converted into a shelter and military hospital and then was reinforced with concrete to become a secret military installation during the Cold War. In 1996 it was reconstructed to its pre-cold war era state to be used as a special kind of cultural museum.
The museum is set up with the idea of using the cultural meaning of labyrinths as a guide to what is shown and how it's displayed. Like the spiritual labyrinths of history it is presented as a pilgrimage to find enlightenment at its end and to achieve a contemplative state. Its a bit toungue-in-cheek and has some of the hokeyness of a ghost tunnel at times but given the amazing history of the place and the thoughtful displays I found it really affecting. You are given a gas lantern then head off to wander the damp and surprisingly extensive tunnels. Its set out in ages of history - first pre-history then ancient concentrating on Hungary's place and then a fantastical part looking back on our own time from way into the future. The diplays, sculptures and paintings you stumble across are cloaked in darkness only revealed by your lantern. Atmospheric sound is used to great effect- for example a deep slow heart beat pulses throughout the pre-history section giving you the feeling you were in the bowels of the earth.
I loved the way the museum pulled you in by making the displays often quite cryptic, making you work to find the connections between things.
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| fossil of a laptop |
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| fossil of a giant coke bottle |
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