"PECS" a Pecs Travel Page by cobrioc

PECS lying equidistant from the Danube and the Drava rivers in Southern Transdanubia, Pecs is one of the most interesting cities in Hungary. Blessed with a mild climate, it has an illustrious past, superb museums and some of the finest Turkish monuments in the country. It is also renowned for its music, opera and ballet, and has some of Hungary's best leatherwork.

Mysterious Roman burial vaults, Turkish mosques, slender minaret, fine Zsolnay ceramics, grandiose Csontvary paintings, decorative Vasarely patterns, almond trees blossoming in early spring, restaurants and cafes with pleasant atmospheres this is all Pecs, the 2000-year-old city with Mediterranean climate and mood lying at the southern foot of the Mecsek Range.

The symbol of the city is the Mosque Church, the largest building from the Turkish occupation still standing in Hungary. The square mosque, with an octagonal green copper dome, was built in the mid-16th century. After the expulsion of the Turks, the Catholic Church resumed possession. The Islamic elements are still in evidence today: prayer niches carved into the walls, distinctive S-shaped arches and geometric frescoes on the cupola. Nearby is the synagogue, another of Pecs extraordinary monuments. Built in the Romantic style in 1869, it has carved oak galleries and pews, ceiling paintings, and the ornate Ark of the Covenant in the sanctuary.

Among the city's best museums are the Victor Vasarely Museum and the Zsolnay Porcelain Exhibit. Vasarely was the father of Op Art - a style popular in the 1960s - and although some of the exhibited works by him and his acolytes are dated, most are evocative, tactile and very playful. The Zsolnay porcelain factory, established in 1851, was at the forefront of art and design in Europe for more than half a century. Many of its tiles were used to decorate buildings throughout the country and helped establish a new pan-Hungarian style of architecture (the Communists later turned the factory into a plant for making ceramic insulators). The museum was the home of the Zsolnay family and contains many of their personal effects; on the ground floor are exhibits of the popular sculptor Amerigo Tot.

The largest museum with the richest collection is Janus Pannonius Museum, named after the court poet of King Mathias, who was sent into exile here. The archeological, fine art, ethnographic, and natural scientific collections of the museum provide a comprehensive picture of the history of the county.

One of the specialities of Pe'cs is the Hungarian Art Nouveau eosin glazed ZSOLNAY FOUNTAIN (Szechenyi te'r) in the main square of the town.