MaNDAHungarian National Digital Archive

Galyatető is one of the most significant high-altitude resort areas in the Mátra Mountains, which rose to national prominence as a tourist destination in the first half of the 20th century. Its mountain climate, clean air, and distinctive natural setting attracted visitors seeking rest and recovery from an early date. This virtual exhibition explores the history of Galyatető and the Galya Grand Hotel, illustrating how a mountain ridge in the Mátra became a key site of modern Hungarian leisure culture.

Superstitions are present in our everyday lives imperceptibly, for example, many people knock something on wood to make sure it does not happen, even if they do not necessarily believe in it. However, our ancestors still attached great importance to superstitions and their associated rituals, which they used for gaining some control over sometimes rather unpredictable life events. 

At the turn of the century, Budapest became one of Europe’s most vibrant cultural centres: cafés, revues, bars, and cabarets shaped that distinctive world which we still know today as the “nightlife of Pest.” In this lively milieu, the Royal Orfeum opened in 1908, one of the capital’s most dazzling and most modern variety theatres. In our virtual exhibition, we recall this colourful, elegant, and daring cultural world.