The City of Pécs
Pécs is the sixth largest city of Hungary with approximately 160,000 inhabitants and it is the administrative and economic centre of South Transdanubia, while functioning as the seat of Baranya County.
It is a truly cultural city: one of its greatest assets is the high level of culture produced locally. In addition to its heritage—the early Christian necropolis, the former Roman city of Sopianae that was included in the World Heritage list of UNESCO in 2000, the Turkish remains with the Mosque of Pasha Gazi Kasim, one of the most emblematic buildings of Pécs, or the “Museum Street”—people immediately think of culture when they encounter the name of the city.
Pécs is a multicultural city. In the past it developed cultural layers of Latin, Turkish, German, Croatian and Hungarian origin. Today the city is the most important Hungarian centre of German, Croatian and Gypsy culture. One of its unique symbols is the combination of the crescent and the cross on the dome of the Mosque of Pasha Gazi Kasim, today a functioning Christian church, that peacefully co-exist.
Pécs is a university city, a significant centre for creativity and research. The University of Pécs, Hungary’s oldest and largest institution of higher education has 35,000 students studying various disciplines at its 10 faculties/schools. It has a decisive role in the long-term development of the city and its region.
Pécs is a place where laughter and buoyancy have preference over severity, where people live outside in squares and streets till late at night and foreigners are happy to strike up a conversation with one another, and where it appears there are more festivities than anywhere else in Europe. This is what Pécs would like to become by the opportunity offered by the “European Capital of Culture 2010”, or perhaps it is such a place already.
About Hungary
Hungary has nearly 10 million inhabitants in Central Europe where Hungarians (Magyars) settled more than 1000 years ago. It shares borders with seven neighbours: Austria, Slovakia, the Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia. Visitors can enjoy the variety of the scenery: mountains, plains, lakes, rivers, bustling towns and peaceful rural areas.
Hungary is also well-known for its thermal springs and baths. Hungary has a temperate continental climate with cold, snowy winters, mild springs and falls, and hot, dry summers.
The culinary delights and the hospitality of Hungarians together with the excellent wines and champagnes have a great reputation all over the world. These, together with the rich cultural heritage in arts, literature and music, the achievements in sciences and sports, make Hungary a very special place to visit.
