Pécs County Seat, located in the South-Western part of Hungary, is the fifth largest city after Budapest, Debrecen, Szeged, and Miskolc. Pécs is the largest settlement in Transdanubia. It is the seat of Baranya County and of Pécs Administrative Unit, and the centre of Southern Transdanubia. The name of Pécs in different languages: Pečuh in Croatian, Fünfkirchen in German, Печуј in Serbian, Peçuy in Turkish, its Latin name was Quinque Ecclesiae in the Middle Ages and Sopianae in Ancient Times.
Pécs was founded by the Romans at the beginning of 2nd century A.D. By the end of the 4th century, it had become the centre of the Roman province called Pannonia and an important early Christian centre. The Early Christian Cemetery from this period became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in December 2000.
A document from Salzburg from the Early Middle Ages mentions the city by the name of Quinque Basilicae (“five basilicas”) in 871. After the Hungarians had conquered the Carpathian Basin in the 9th century, it was Baranyavár (now in Croatia), not Pécs that became the centre of the newly founded Baranya County. However, Pécs remained an important ecclesiastical centre and the seat of the diocese. Documents written in Latin called the city Quinque Ecclesiae (“five churches”). The Diocese of Pécs was founded by King Saint Stephen in 1009. The name Pechyut (Pécs road) was first mentioned in a document in 1235. Several monastic orders settled down in Pécs. The Benedictines settled down in Pécs in 1076 and they opened a hospital in 1181. King Saint Stephen had established a Benedictine monastery in Pécsvárad (a small town near Pécs) as early as 1015. The first Dominican monastery was built in 1238.
The first Hungarian university was founded in Pécs in 1367 by King Louis the Great. Janus Pannonius, Bishop of Pécs and one of the most significant Humanist poets in Hungary writing Hungarian poetry in Latin, made the medieval city of Pécs a cultural and arts centre in the country. In 1476, the General Assembly was held in Pécs. King Vladislaus II and the Turks declared a truce for three years in the city in 1485. After the Battle of Mohács in 1526, Suleiman the Magnificent looted and burnt the city, and massacred the people. In June 1543, Pécs opened its gates to the Ottoman army. The Turks reinforced the city and turned it into a real Eastern city. The churches were transformed into Turkish mosques, Turkish baths and Türbes (Turkish mausoleums) were built, Koran Schools were founded, and a Madrasah (school for Islamic instruction) and a Sufi monastery at Tettye were established. Pecsuj (Pécs) became a significant market town in the Balkans. Important monuments and buildings remained from the 150 years of Ottoman rule, for example, the Mosque of Pasha Qasim at the central square of the city called Széchenyi Square.
In 1780, Pécs was granted the title of free royal city by Queen Maria Theresa. Afterwards, the city saw a significant economic development and people’s transition from being subjects of a king or a queen to being citizens of a city. Industrial development was significant in the first half of the 19th century. Zsolnay porcelain and ceramics, Littke Champagne, and Angster Organs became world famous Pécs based products.
During the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 and the Hungarian War of Independence of 1848-1849, the Southern part of Baranya County was occupied by the Croats for a short while. In January 1849, General Jelačić leading the Habsburg Army marched into the city. Following the Austro-Hungarian Compromise in 1867 and the restoration of the constitution, Pécs developed at a faster rate than other cities in the country. Railways were built to connect Pécs to Barcs in 1868 and Pécs to Budapest in 1882.
At the end of World War I, Southern Transdanubia was occupied by entente-Serbian troops until 1921, which greatly hindered the city’s industrial and commercial development. World War II caused minor damage to the city despite the big tank battle that took place in the vicinity of Villány, 20-25 kilometres South of the city. At the end of the 1940s, private owners were deprived of their properties and industrial plants became state-owned.
After the war, the city’s development grew to unprecedented levels, and it became a major industrial centre in the country. In the heyday of the local mining industry, hard coal and uranium ore were mined in Pécs. During that time, the population of the city grew significantly. In the 1980s, 180,000 people lived in Pécs.
In addition to mining, the building industry thrived as well. Two new suburbs – Garden City and Uranium City (Kertváros and Uránváros in Hungarian) – were established, and district heating was introduced in the city, as well. Mecsek Forest Park became more developed: the amusement park was built as a result of social and communal effort, and the Zoo and Mecsek narrow-gauge railway (formerly known as Pioneer Railway) were established. Many hiking trails and holiday villages in the vicinity of Pécs were established. The old TV tower and lookout tower were replaced with a new tower that has been an important symbol of Pécs ever since.
Pécs greatly suffered the aftermath of the change of regime in 1989: most industrial plants were closed down and new industrial businesses were not set up in their place, resulting in very high unemployment rates.
The proximity of the Yugoslavian Wars between 1991-2001 greatly hindered local tourism. Coal mining had become insignificant after the change of regime and the last mine was closed down in 2004.
In the 2000s, the structure of the city’s economy changed – it transitioned from traditional industries to new areas including knowledge, healthcare, and cultural industries. In 2010, Pécs became a European Cultural Capital (ECC); therefore, significant investments were made in Pécs, the most important ones include the building of Kodály Music Hall, Southern Transdanubia Regional Library and Centre for Learning, the Street of Museums (Múzeumok utcája), and Zsolnay Cultural Quarter. The Early Christian Cemetery became a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and motorways M6 and M60 connecting Pécs with Budapest were built.