Vasi Skanzen

The Vasi Skanzen in Szombathely is an open-air ethnographic museum that opened in 1973 as only the second such skanzen built in Hungary. Its exhibits consist of genuine historic buildings relocated from villages across the Vas region and reassembled to recreate the look and rhythm of a traditional settlement, with houses arranged in tight rows along a street in some sections and spaced apart in the looser pattern typical of the area's scattered farmsteads elsewhere. The reconstructed village centers on a main street, a central hill and a communal wine cellar, while a planted vineyard of old regional grape varieties and a nursery of native fruit trees extend the museum's focus on traditional agriculture. Craft demonstrations and folk programs run throughout the year, and the museum is especially lively during its St. Martin's Day fair each November, when harvest-season traditions are celebrated.