Pécs: the back story

About Pécs: the back story

By the ULTIMATE Budapest Editorial Team

Pécs, in the sunny south of Hungary below the Mecsek hills, is one of the country’s most beautiful cities: Roman Sopianae, an Ottoman town for 150 years, a university city since 1367 and home of the Zsolnay ceramics factory. It was a European Capital of Culture in 2010.

Sopianae

The Roman town of Sopianae left a remarkable early Christian cemetery of painted burial chambers, from the 4th century, now a UNESCO World Heritage site shown in an underground visitor centre beside the cathedral.

The Ottoman centuries

Under Ottoman rule, from 1543 to 1686, Pécs gained mosques and baths. The great Mosque of Pasha Qasim, on Széchenyi Square, became a Catholic church after 1686 but keeps its dome and mihrab, and the Mosque of Pasha Hassan Yakovali still has its minaret.

The tiles on many Budapest roofs were fired in Pécs.

Zsolnay

The Zsolnay factory made the iridescent eosin-glazed ceramics and the colourful roof tiles of Hungarian Art Nouveau, including the roofs of Matthias Church and the Museum of Applied Arts in Budapest. Its old factory is now the Zsolnay Cultural Quarter, with museums, galleries and studios.

Museums and the old town

Káptalan utca, the street of museums, includes the Vasarely Museum, honouring the Pécs-born father of Op art, and the Csontváry Museum shows the visionary paintings of Tivadar Csontváry Kosztka. The four-towered cathedral rises above the old town.

Our advice: stay a night or two; Pécs is about three hours from Budapest by train or car. Start at Széchenyi Square, see the necropolis and the cathedral, and spend an afternoon in the Zsolnay Quarter.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Pécs: the back story before you go.