Vihorlat Museum and Open-Air Museum, Humenné

The Vihorlat Museum (Vihorlatské múzeum) in Humenné is the main museum of Upper Zemplín in north-eastern Slovakia. It occupies a Renaissance chateau in the town centre, and behind the chateau, in the former park, lies an open-air museum of folk architecture and rural life. So in one visit you can see both the world of noble families and the life of the Carpathian villages from which the wooden houses and church come.

The chateau was built on the site of a medieval moated castle. In 1317 King Charles Robert of Anjou gave Humenné to the Drugeth brothers, and this family turned the estate into its residence; the chateau is first mentioned in 1449, and it acquired its present form – a square plan with an inner courtyard and corner towers – in the early 17th century. After the Drugeths died out in 1684 it changed hands, rooms with illusionistic paintings were created in the second half of the 18th century, and from 1812 it belonged to the Andrássy family, who gave the building a unified appearance and laid out a park around it. The chateau was damaged at the end of the Second World War and its roof burned in 1946; restoration began in 1964 and lasted seven years. The museum has been here since the 1960s, the first permanent exhibition opened in 1971 and the open-air museum in August 1984. Its collections now hold more than one hundred thousand items.

What to see

• The art-historical exhibition in the chateau's authentic rooms shows noble living from the Renaissance to the 20th century: a gallery of Hungarian kings in medallions, a room whose ceiling depicts Maria Theresa's arrival in the town, a "Chinese" room with porcelain, Andrássy family portraits, the coffered library ceiling, historic weapons and armour, and Baroque icons from Runina. Tours are guided only and start every hour.
• The natural-history exhibition "Wildlife of Upper Zemplín" – from warmth-loving forest-steppe species to the brown bear and the nutcracker of the Vihorlat and Stužica.
• The Orest Dubay Gallery – prints by one of the founders of post-war Slovak printmaking.
• The open-air museum covering 4 ha: its oldest and most precious building is the wooden Church of St Michael the Archangel from Nová Sedlica, built in 1764 and moved here in 1972–1974, with a restored iconostasis. Around it stand log houses from Klenová, from Kalná Roztoka with a thatched roof, from Oľšinkov with a wheelwright's workshop, from Nechválova Polianka and from Výrava with hemp and linen making, a pottery, a smithy, a granary, a well sweep and a water mill from Vyšná Jablonka.

The sacral exhibition in the chateau is currently closed. The museum also holds temporary exhibitions every year.

Practical information

The chateau stands on Freedom Square (Námestie slobody) right in the centre of Humenné, with the open-air museum behind it across the chateau park. You can reach the town by train or bus from Michalovce or Medzilaborce, or by car from Prešov in about an hour. From May to October the museum opens from Tuesday (in summer also on weekend afternoons); the open-air museum costs €5 and the chateau €6 (full schedule and prices in the "At a glance" box). In winter the open-air museum admits only pre-booked groups. Allow about an hour for the guided chateau tour and another hour for the open-air museum. The open-air site is on hilly ground, so it may be difficult for wheelchairs and people with limited mobility. Children under 6 with their parents pay a token fee, and there is a family ticket.

Nearby: trails and peaks

The waymarked route Humenné, mesto – Hôrka starts right in the town centre, and a few kilometres away the path to the ruins of the Drugeth castle, Jasenov, under the castle – Chlm, nicely complements the chateau's story of this family. Half an hour's drive to the south-east lie Zemplínska šírava — the “Slovak Sea” below the Vihorlat and the mountain lake Morské oko — the largest lake of the Vihorlat hills.

Official website: muzeumhumenne.sk

Photos: ZemplinTemplar, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; Przykuta (talk), CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; Milan Bališin, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.