DRETGY - Pannonia Reformata Museum
Our exempted, family-friendly museum is centrally located in the heart of the city, right next to the baroque Fő tér, Fő u. 6–8. located in the Old Reformed Church, which is considered a historical monument. It can be reached in a quarter of an hour from the train station, and only a few minutes' walk from the bus station and the free parking lot.
The Pannonia Reformata Museum, a real curiosity in the Hungarian museum palette, opened its doors to the public in May 2018. Thanks to the reconstruction of the Old Church and the adjoining parish and the courtyard building, which were built in 1783 in accordance with the rules of the Order of Tolerance, we can see the sacred space in its old beauty, the now multi-functional, but clean, puritanical complex of buildings, and the courtyard with a special Mediterranean atmosphere. The whole thing, together, is a real, more than two hundred year old Calvinist treasure, which captivates every visitor who comes to us. The Old Church - founded in 1531, together with the famous Papal Reformed College - is one of the historical monuments marked with a stele by the National Heritage Institute.
From Fő utca, the elegant portal of the Pannonia Reformata Café and Vinotéka invites the guests, who actually walk straight from the street into a café with a captivating atmosphere or its courtyard, or we could say that they find themselves in the entrance hall of our museum. The carefully excavated medieval wall details, the painted ceiling tapestry presented at the cafe counter, the finely tuned small details, the biblical verse accompanying the premium quality coffee suggest something special: "There is more to life..." (Lucas 12, 23).
The permanent exhibition "Shelter in Eternity" in the portico of the Old Church bears witness to the Christian faith that is still alive today, it flashes the past and present of the trans-Danubian Reformed heritage, inviting children and adults alike to active participation and discovery. The material created with a modern museological approach and at a high professional level is not ordinary, it does not tell a story, but a confessional exhibition, a groundbreaking exhibition combining modern and traditional elements, one of the principles of which is: everything for the eyes, everything for the hands and everything for the soul. The multi-level presentation of the theme is also groundbreaking: the meeting of theology, religious ethnography, museum pedagogy and interactive solutions.
In the vaulted basement of the former parish, the "Secrets of Hori" Egyptian exhibition - complemented by a spectacular face reconstruction and the possibilities of modern audio-visual equipment, with the more than 3,000-year-old ancient Egyptian coffin and mummy in the center - provides an unforgettable experience.
What makes the museum unique and at the same time special is the fact that the Old Church has become a "multifunctional space", it functions as a living church museum, in which the biblical exhibition, church, family, community and civic occasions, cultural events fit well - and create a beautiful unity - concerts.