Hungary: Pecs

Pecs is known as both a college town and a cultural destination. Many museums and performing arts venues vie for the residents and tourists' attention. With the World Heritage Site designation assigned to the early Christian burial tombs discovered in the old part of town, Pecs is hopeful of drawing more tourists south from Budapest to explore its own interesting region.

Quick Tips:

It may be a college town but things get quiet pretty early on weeknight evenings. Make sure to get your shopping and sightseeing finished before the doors are locked and windows shuttered.

Best Way To Get Around:

The downtown area of Pecs is small enough to navigate by foot. Expeditions to the nearby hills, however, will require a car or some other mode of transportation.

This beautiful hotel is situated smack in the center of town, yet loses none of its intimate charm. Walking through the narrow courtyard into the stupendous art deco lobby one feels transported to the 1920's, a grand vision of Europe before the second World War. The 88 room establishment is somewhat small in size but offers a number of services and amenities. The Gosser Brasserie is a full service restaurant that appeared to be quite popular with both hotel guests and local residents. An elegant ball room truly captures the spirit of an era gone by, even if it is now used primarily for business meetings and conferences. There are six suites available for those needing extra space and comfort, but the Palatinus Hotel is not a luxury property; it is merely a fantastic trip back in time for fans of art deco and the Roaring 20's.

The Patria Hotel is right across the street from the Jakovali Hassan Mosque and easy walking distance to the center of town. The block like structure of the building and the simple rooms may be somewhat off putting, but the service in the hotel was friendly and efficient. Dining is available on the second floor of the hotel in two separate rooms. The Patria is run by the same folks who manage the Palatinus Hotel in the center of downtown Pecs, and which might prove to be a more enjoyable location.

Hidden in cellar near the Cathedral and the Bishop's Palace, Csaszar Pince has a long dining room that was once used by intellectuals for meeting under cover and enjoying cultural films, discussions, etc, during the Soviet regime. Now it serves top notch food with highly attentive and polite service.

We sampled the green pea soup, followed by a young chicken breast served with rice and almonds. The dessert was the tasty Hungarian specialty of somloi galuska, a crepe stuffed with assorted goodies like cocoa, crushed nuts, raisins, candied, orange peel, etc., then topped with a rich chocolate sauce. A full service bar is also available at Csaszar Pince, making it a nice stop for any time fo the day when in the area exploring the Cathedral or early Christian burial tombs.

Kosztka Csontvary went unrecognized in his lifetime as an artist of any merit, but his deeply felt paintings reflect a huge talent. Not prescribing to any particular school of painting, Csontvary is hard to pin down as an artist. His sometimes blockish and wildly colorful subjects remind one of Pabo Picasso though his Csontvary's work predates that of Picasso.

Many of his canvasses are quite large, with lots of activity taking place. I liked the ridiculously curvy bodies in Mary's Well at Nazareth, quite a different take on art set in the Holy Land. The dramatic colors of Storm on the Great Hortobagy were unlike I saw when visitng the Great Plain region of eastern Hungary, but it makes for an exciting work that draws the viewer in.

The neo-Romanesque Cathedral of Pecs is gigantic, towering over the historic Belvaros district. It is many ways a collage of older church remains and their respective styles, as the Cathedral has been rebuilt and remodeled numerous times over the past 1000 years. The crypt below offers a peak into what it might have been like as a small church in the early days of Hungary. Modern additions have resulted in a somewhat glitzy and heavily gold-accented super church. The painted ceilings and walls keep the visitor busy with a great deal of eye catching detail.

Next door to the Cathedral is the Bishop's Palace, a neo-Renaissance building that served as the home for the many bishops of the region. Our group was fortunate enough to receive an audience with the bishop where he answered our questions about the building and the history of Pecs. On our tour of the nicely appointed home we became aware of the bishop's fascination with the cactus plant, as everywhere you looked spiky stalks reached for the high ceilings.

Outside of the Bishop's Palace is a pleasant courtyard, with a new fountain that is quite pleasant to relax by for a moment. The bishop harvests grapes and makes his own wine to sell, which he had us sample in his private cellar.

Out in front of the Palace is an interesting statue of the composer Liszt, who is supposedly waving and welcoming gues, but in fact seems somewhat menacing. The statue appears to be leering around a corner to sneak up on an unsuspecting victim.

By the 4th century early Christian tribes had moved in to Sopianae, a land once occupied by Romans. The early underground caverns that had been abandoned were now utilized as graves by the Christian inhabitants, who decorated the wall with Biblical etchings and paintings. Sopianae in time became Pecs, and recent, ongoing excavations have unconvered a number of these early Christian burial tombs. Different entrances (and unfortunately varying operating hours) lead to three different burial sites that are open to the public. While much of the walls are faded some designs, notably Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eve, are unmistakable and quite fascinating.

While many of the churches in Pecs were transformed into mosques during the Turkish occupation and then back again into Christian homes of worship, the Jakovali Hassan Mosque is still an active center of Islamic faith. It serves the small population of practicing students who are attending the nearby medical university. Dating from the 1500's, it's amazing the building has remained intact. Perhaps even more surprising is that the minaret out behind the mosque is also stil standing tall, though it is off limits to the mosque's visitors. A small museum display in the lobby illustrates the history of the mosque and the city of Pecs under Turkish rule.

An excellent internet café that offers high speed connections and modern equipment, making it a great stop for checking up on things back home. The interior room is lined with hundreds of paperbacks and research volumes, though the Mac Café doesn't strike me much as a research library.

Snacks can be purchased in the other room, which is much more of a coffee house/lounge. In the computer area eveyone is much more serious and hard "at work," though with Elvis Costello blaring in the background you can't help but loosen up a bit as you compose those IgoUgo journal entries. The initial charge is 100 forints (about 60 cents), followed by 8 forints a minute.