This quirky (and sometimes grisly) museum traces the history of medicine from Graeco-Roman times through medical tools and photographs; inevitably in Hungary, yet another antique pharmacy makes an appearance. Much is made about the life and works of Ignác Semmelweis (1818–65), the 'saviour of mothers', who discovered the cause of puerperal (childbirth) fever but whose observations were not accepted in his life. Dr Semmelweis was born in this house.

Semmelweis Museum of Medical History
Budapest
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
Castle Hill
0.77 MILES
Castle Hill is a kilometre-long limestone plateau towering 170m above the Danube. It contains some of Budapest’s most important medieval monuments and…
Esztergom Basilica
25.51 MILES
The largest church in Hungary sits on Castle Hill, and its 72m-high central dome can be seen for many kilometres around. The building of the present…
Great Synagogue
0.84 MILES
Budapest's stunning Great Synagogue is the world's largest Jewish house of worship outside New York City. Built in 1859, the synagogue has both Romantic…
Memento Park
5.07 MILES
Home to more than 40 statues, busts and plaques of Lenin, Marx, Béla Kun and others whose likenesses have ended up on trash heaps elsewhere, Memento Park,…
Basilica of St Stephen
0.72 MILES
Budapest’s neoclassical cathedral is the most sacred Catholic church in all of Hungary and contains its most revered relic: the mummified right hand of…
House of Terror
1.39 MILES
The headquarters of the dreaded ÁVH secret police houses the disturbing House of Terror, focusing on the crimes and atrocities of Hungary's fascist and…
Parliament
0.97 MILES
The Eclectic-style Parliament, designed by Imre Steindl and completed in 1902, has 691 sumptuously decorated rooms. You’ll get to see several of these and…
Hungarian National Museum
0.93 MILES
The Hungarian National Museum houses the nation’s most important collection of historical relics in an impressive neoclassical building, purpose built in…
Nearby Budapest attractions
1. Buda Creative House
0.04 MILES
This new gallery with rotating exhibitions of modern and contemporary art is housed in the stunning Castle Garden Kiosk (Várkert Kioszk), a lovely little…
2. Castle Garden Bazaar
0.08 MILES
This renovated pleasure park dating from 1893 has added a whole new dimension to Tabán district in recent years. The complex comprises over a dozen neo…
3. Castle Museum
0.16 MILES
The Castle Museum, part of the multibranched Budapest History Museum, explores the city's 2000-year history over four floors. Restored palace rooms dating…
4. National Széchenyi Library
0.21 MILES
The copyright National Széchenyi Library contains codices and manuscripts, a large collection of foreign newspapers and a copy of everything published in…
5. Queen Elizabeth Statue
0.22 MILES
Northwest of Elizabeth Bridge is a statue of the Habsburg empress and Hungarian queen, Elizabeth. Consort to Franz Joseph, 'Sissi' was much loved by the…
6. Royal Palace
0.25 MILES
The former Royal Palace has been razed and rebuilt at least half a dozen times over the past seven centuries. Béla IV established a royal residence here…
7. Eugene of Savoy Statue
0.26 MILES
To the southeast of the Habsburg Steps entrance, just in front of the Royal Palace, stands a statue of Eugene of Savoy, the Habsburg prince who wiped out…
8. Matthias Fountain
0.27 MILES
Facing the Royal Palace’s large courtyard to the northwest is the Romantic-style Matthias Fountain, portraying the young king Matthias Corvinus in hunting…