Pecs Hungary, the town of five temples

Pecs "the meditterranian atmosphere town" is located at the foot of Mecsek mountais. The town of Sopiane, as the Romans called it, was founded in the 2nd century and it has been called the "town of five temples" since the middle of the 19th century.

The county-town of Baranya-county became one of the centres of Hungary. The intimate small, zigzag streets with the almond and fig-trees and small cafés provide the special mediterran atmosphere of the city.

The beautiful baroque buildings of the inner-city tell us about the rich history of the town. Let's see what we can learn here.

The town of Pecs was the home of important decisions. Did you know that our King Salamon was crowned here in 1064? Or one of the most significant poets of the European humanism Janus Pannonius (Csezmicei János) was the bishop of Pecs for 13 years.

Pecs has always been the citadel of culture. The first piece of Hungarian literature, the legend of the two hermits András and Benedek, was written here by bishop Mór in 1060. The first University of the country was founded in Pecs by King Nagy Lajos, in 1367. The first library with 300 volumes was opened here in 1440.

Pecs is the town of great artistic significance. Amerigo Tot, Csontváry Kosztka Tivadar, Victor Vasarely, or the Zsolnay-family are all natives of Pecs.

The Zsolnay China-Factory opened in 1852. The works of the factory have been world-famuos since then. The prosperity of china-manufactuing in Hungary is connected to Zsolnay Miklós, who raised the qualty of the Hungarian porcelain to be the best in Europe.

The former Turkish temples, the so-called dzámis keep the memories of the 150 years long turkish occupation of Hungary. The Gázi Kászim-dzsámi functions as a church, and the dzsami of Hasszán Pasha is the Turkish Museum today.

Beside the „dzsámi” we find the 23 meters tall minaret. The grave of Idrisz Baba is a famous spot for pilgrimage, as Idris Baba was a doctor, who was raised among the saints. The ruins of the Turkish bath of Memi Pasha are now a bath-museum.

The Janus Pannonius Museum exhibits the folk-art of Baranya county. The interesting history of the region comes to life in front of our eyes. We can also see the statue of the roman emperor Marcus Aurelius here.

The art-history section of the Janus Pannonius Museum is located in the oldest house of Pecs. As part of the Zsolnay Museum the exibition presents the art-products of the Zsolnay-factory, inlcuding the prize-winner pieces of the 1878 Paris-Expo. The museum is the home of the Zsolnay Memorial-room. The rare trees in the garden are protected.

The Vasarely Museum in Káptalan street exhibits the art of the Pecs-born Victor Vasarely, artist of the op-art, the abstract geometry. The world famous artist was born in this house as Vásárhelyi Győző.

The exhibition of Csontváry Kosztka Tivadar's unique pictures is to be found in the Csontváry Museum. The museum is situated in a neo-rennessaince style mansion in Janus Pannonius street.

The unparalleled sculprures of Amerigo Tot are shown in the "Modern Magyar Képtár" gallery.

The famous Basilica with its four towers was finished in the 13. century, but the work started in the time of king István, in the 10 century. The temple was rebuilt several times. The first changes were made by the plans of Mihály Pollack, and the last ones are the ideas of Károly Antal. Talking of the Basilica we have to mention the copper baptism-well, the wall paintings of Károly Lotz, and the paintings of Bertalan Székely in the chapel.

The world-famous sight of Pecs, the ancient christian tombs from the 3.-4. century are on the UNESCO world-heritage list.

These heritage buildings can be found near the Basilica and St István square. Most of them are still worked on by archeologists, but The Mausoleoum and the Korsós tomb are open for visitors.


In the old Sopiane graveyard the Romans raised chapels and built tombs. The events represented by the wall-paintings in these chambers are of scriptural origin. Based on the Biblical pictures and symbols, the mausoleum is held to be of old-christian origin.

The most significant finding, the old-christian chapel was foun in 1975-76, in the middle of Széchenyi square, by accident. During the excavation the archeologists found a tomb where the frescos on the walls show different events of the christian mithology. One of them depicts the Fall with Adam, Eve and the tree in Pararadise. Another one shows the prophet Daniel in the lionpit. Or the one with the figure dressed in white, who could be Christ receiving the christian people in the other world.

The first chamber, the "Péter Pál" chamber received its name from the ornament on the wall opposite the entrance. In the picture the apostols find Christ's sign referring to the presence of Jesus. The side wall pictures show the stories of Noah, Virgin Mary and the childhood of Jesus Christ.

The second chamber is the Korsós chamber where the geometric ornaments on the walls symbolize Paradise, and the one with a carafe and glass probably symbolizes the Holy Communion.

Four garaves were found under the floor of the old-christian chapel, in the Apáca street. The only difference between this chapel and the Sopiane cementery that here the christian dwellers used grave-holes instead of grave-chambers.

The synagogue on Kossuth square is an interesting place to visit because of its size and its organ. The gigantic building can hold more than one-thousand people and the organ is the first product of the world-famous Angster company.

The performances and plays presented by The Pecs National Theatre, The Pécs Ballet and the Bóbita Theatre serve for meaty relaxation.

The fairs are closely connected to the lives of the people of Pecs, because the "vásártér" square has always been the location of many popular fairs. The first weekend of each month is the time of the antiquities-market. Vehicle and animal-markets are organized on the rest of the weekends.

Animals are not only seen in the market. The Pecs Zoo is the home of several small, big, tame and wild animals. The underground Terrarium near Széchenyi-square is the place where we see animals like insects, reptiles, snakes, scorpions, turtles, or even crocodiles and spiders.

Now we see what a busy city Pecs is. Either weekend or weekday we can choose from sport, and recreation opportunities. Sport-fields, swimming-pools, skating rinks wait the lovers of physical activities during the whole year.

Nature fans can go hiking in the Mecsek to enjoy the fresh air and the particularly beautiful environmet.

Pecs has been the "International City of Wines" for a decade. Not without a reason. Excellent white-wine is produced on the slopes of the Mecsekalja region. This wine goes well with the roast pig or lamb, which is made by secret recipe.

We can enjoy the view of the Pannon landscape fom the panorama-terrace of the television-broadcasting tower.
From the tower of the Misina-hilltop we can admire the view of Pécs, the mediterranian capitol of the Pannon region.

Accommodation, hotels in Pecs:

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