374 CENTRAL EASTERN EUROPE
St Peter’s Cathedral, with its distinctive corner towersPécs p
Cosmopolitan Pécs calls itself “Hungary’s Mediterranean
city”, as the sun shines here for more than 200 days a
year. Many of the city’s streets also have an Oriental feel
to them. Pécs was founded by the Romans, who called
the place Sopianae, in the 3rd century AD. It served as
the capital of Valeria Province and was an early centre
of Roman Christianity – as evidenced by the 4th-century
tombs on Apáca utca. It was the Ottoman Turks, how-
ever, 1,000 years later, who left the deepest marks on
the city’s landscape. Széchenyi tér, the bustling heart of
the city, is dominated by the former Gazi Kasim Pasha
mosque, the largest surviving original Islamic construc-
tion in Hungary. The city also boasts excellent galleries,
museums and great examples of Islamic architecture.
E Modern Hungarian Gallery
Káptalan utca 4. Tel (072) 540 040.
# May–Oct: 10am–6pm Tue–Sat,
10am–4pm Sun; Nov–Apr:
10am–4pm Tue–Sun. & 8 7
One of the finest collections
of 20th-century Hungarian art
in the country, this gallery
(Modern Magyar képtár)
features works by every major
artist of the age, including
József Rippl-Rónai, Lajos
Gulácsy and Farkas Molnár.
In the garden there is aImpressive sculpture outside the
Modern Hungarian GalleryE Csontváry Museum
Janus Pannonius utca 11.
Tel (072) 310 544. # 10am–6pm
Tue–Sun. & 8 7
A tortured soul and former
pharmacist turned artist,
Tivadar Kosztka Csontváry
(1853–1919) produced most
of his work between 1903
and 1909, after which he
moved to Naples. Most
of Kosztka Csontváry’s
master pieces, including
the start ling View of the
Dead Sea from the Temple
Square in Jerusalem (1905),
have been on display in
this Neo-Renaissance
building since 1973.P Apáca Utca and Early
Christian Mausoleum
Christian Burial Site Apáca utca- Tel (072) 312 719. # by appt
only; book in advance. & 8
Early Christian Mausoleum Szent
István tér 4. # 10am–6pm Tue–Sun.
& 8
Four graves at Apáca utca
14, all from AD 390, mark one
of the earliest Christian burial
sites in Europe. The bodies
are buried under a chapel,
and not in sarco phagi.
Nearby, the Early Christian
Mausoleum (Ókeresztény
Mauzóleum), below an exca-
vated chapel, is even older,
dating from AD 275. It is
decorated with biblical fres-
coes. These and two further
burial chambers at Pécs were
declared UNESCO World
Heritage Sites in 2000.
R St Peter’s Cathedral and
Bishops’ Palace
Dóm tér. Tel (072) 513 050. # mid-
Apr–mid-Oct: 9am–5pm Tue–Sat, 1–
5pm Sun; mid-Oct–mid-Apr: 10am–
4pm Tue–Sat, 1–4pm Sun. 8 7
The historic centre of Pécs,
Dóm tér, is dominated by
St Peter’s Cathedral (Szent
Péter Székesegyház), first
built as a Neo-Romanesque
church in 1009 when St
Stephen made Pécs a
bishopric. The original
church, which burnt down in
1064, was replaced by a
Baroque cathedral built over
nearly 200 years. Badly
damaged by the Mongols, it
was almost entirely rebuilt as
a Gothic church in the 15th
century. The current edifice
dates from 1891, and is the
work of Viennese architect
Friedrich Schmidt. The interior
is impressive, espe cially the
frescoes in the chapel by
Károly Lotz and the reliefs
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp390–93 and pp394–7
in the crypt by György Zala.
A bronze statue of Janos
Pannonius, a leading humanist,
stands in front of the cathedral.
Opposite is the deep red,
19th-century Neo-Renaissance
Bishops’ Palace (Püspöki
Palota). It has a statue of
Hungary’s most prominent
musician Franz Liszt in a rain-
coat, on the southern balcony.
The palace is home to one of
Hungary’s largest libraries.collection of large granite
statues by Budapest-born
sculptor Pierre Szekely, who
lived and died in France.