New developments at the Aquincum Museum

The Virtual Experience Area opened on the lower ground floor of the Aquincum Museum as part of the Pannonia Province Program in 2012 with interactive games introducing children and school groups to life in the ancient world. The area housed the Aquincum quiz, the games room and four motion-sensor games in which players could furnish a Roman home, dress up various characters, fight duels and even work as archaeologists.

The past six years have seen visitor numbers double, in which the popularity of the museum’s educational offer played a significant role. The Virtual Experience Area provided an excellent opportunity to complement the museum classes and guided tours and to make the visit to the museum more active.

The museum’s leadership considers it crucial that the museum’s offer meet the expectations of the modern age, and so the Virtual Experience Area will be transformed and closed from May 2018. In its place a new permanent exhibition will open, introducing visitors to the daily life of the Roman army with particular attention to the legions in Pannonia. The exhibition will present the soldiers’ armaments, lifestyle and role in Roman society. While planning the new exhibition, the museum will ensure that, in addition to archaeological finds, the exhibition includes interactive elements that use the latest technological innovations to facilitate learning through play and immersive historical experiences.  Colourful video reconstructions, VR content and games too will be part of the new exhibition. The games room for our youngest visitors will relocate to the ground floor; games there will include 3D ceramic, stucco and mosaic puzzles and the ancient version of nine men’s morris.

The transformations are funded by grants and support the Aquincum Museum’s aims to bring the Museum to the cultural forefront in Hungary and around the world, and become a leading part of the Hungarian capital’s cultural offer.

The new exhibition is expected to open in autumn 2020.