Explore Pécs

The Early Christian Necropolis of Pécs is a 4th-century Roman burial ground on the site of ancient Sopianae, with painted tombs, mausoleums and burial chapels uncovered beneath Szent István tér since 1782. It was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2000 and is viewed today through the underground Cella Septichora Visitor Centre.

The Mosque of Pasha Qasim was built on Pécs's main square between 1543 and 1546 during the Ottoman occupation and converted into a Catholic church in 1702 after Habsburg forces retook the city; its minaret was removed in 1766. The octagonal domed building keeps Turkish-era windows and niches and now serves as the Inner City Parish Church.

The Csontváry Museum in the old town of Pécs is dedicated to the painter Tivadar Csontváry Kosztka (1853-1919) and occupies a building on Janus Pannonius utca, close to the cathedral. It opened in 1973 and displays his paintings, which were restored and reorganised in 1983 after narrowly escaping sale at auction following his death.

Built in the 1630s, the Yakovalı Hasan Paşa Mosque is one of the few Ottoman-era mosques in Hungary to survive largely intact, keeping its dome and minaret. It remains an active Muslim place of worship and also houses a small museum of Ottoman-period objects and the adjoining Idrisz Baba türbe, a domed tomb nearby.

Pécs Cathedral stands on Roman-era foundations beneath Dóm tér and traces its present four-tower form to a Romanesque basilica begun after a fire in 1064. Turkish-era damage and 19th-century rebuilding by Friedrich von Schmidt between 1882 and 1891 gave it its current neo-Romanesque appearance; a ticket covers the nave, crypt and tower.

The Zsolnay Cultural Quarter occupies the former Zsolnay porcelain factory on the eastern edge of Pécs, redeveloped in 2009-2010 as the largest project of the city's year as European Capital of Culture. The five-hectare site holds exhibitions on the Zsolnay family and its ceramics, a restored mausoleum, a planetarium and a puppet theatre.

The Pécs TV Tower stands on the Misina peak of the Mecsek hills above the city, built between 1968 and 1973. At 197 metres it is the tallest structure in Hungary, with a public observation deck at 75 metres and a restaurant at 72 metres that includes a display of two life-sized models of the dinosaur Komlosaurus, once native to the area.