Hospital in the Rocks Budapest

A very fascinating part of Hungarian history is located just beneath the Buda Castle Hill called the Hospital in the Rocks. This hospital was built during WWII, when Castle District was part of the Government Quarter. It was largely used when Budapest was under siege from July 1945 and then during the 1956 Revolution to treat wounded civilians and soldiers. Between 1958 and 1962 it was expanded to withstand potential chemical and nuclear attacks during the Cold War

In 1941, a section of the 6 mile stretch of interconnected caves and tunnels, was converted into a military hospital staffed from the civilian Szent János hospital. It was then reconstructed and fortified and used as an air raid shelter after the Red Army broke through the Attila Line and encircled Budapest in December 1944.

It was upgraded and extended to a nuclear bunker in the early ’60s because of the Cold War. Nowadays it is an exhibition displaying the life in the hospital with wax figures as well as the history of military surgery and civil defense. The control room and associated machinery are still in operating conditions.

The “Hospital in the Rock – Secret Emergency Hospital and Nuclear Bunker” opened to the public in 2008. Ramped throughout for wheelchairs and trolleys, its operating caves contain 1930s X-ray and anesthetic machines. The exhibition is a superb tourist attraction, it contains original medical equipment as well as some 70 gory wax figures. It is open from 10-18 daily except Monday. One-hour guided tours, available in Hungarian and English, depart every hour. Other parts of the Castle Hill cave system can be toured at the Labyrinth. The entrance to the hospital is at Lovas út 4/b, on the rear hillside beyond the castle walls, reached by descending the steps at the end of Szentháromság utca and then walking 50m uphill.