Zsolnay Quarter in Pécs

Pécs is a really long drive from Budapest, but believe me it’s worth the time and energy. A beautiful little town with so much history from as early as 2000 years ago, some rare relics and architecture from the Ottoman era, fascinating Baroque architecture and more.

The visit of the Zsolnay Quarter is part of my Pécs and Villány tour, it’s a unique experience if you would like to learn more about Hungarian ceramics and porcelain and Vilmos Zsolnay, the greatest figure of Hungarian pottery.

The Zsolnay project was a monumental industrial historic building reconstruction project in the original factory plant exceeding 5 hectares. The main aim was to create a lively cultural center to commemorate the Zsolnay heritage and to recreate the factory plant an attractive cultural district with the operating production also being part of the plant.

You can have a look at the special collections of the Handicraft / Artisan and Creative districts or enjoy the facilities of the Children and Family district.

Pécs tour with a lot of sunshine, history and diverse architecture

Yes, Pécs is one of my favorite destinations so I’d like to encourage you to book a tour at your earliest convenience. Once you have a look at the pictures below I’m sure you’ll fall in love with the city, too.

Pécs is very unique because the entire Hungarian history is on display in the city’s architecture, spirit and charm. You can learn so much while just walking around the cobblestoned streets.

We start the tour discovering the 1700-year-old Early Christian Necropolis, the well preserved burial chambers of the Romans fron the 4th century. We continue in the 11th century Basilica on Dóm square, an important symbol of the continuous fight of the Hungarians for Christianity. We tour the ruins of the Turkish baths, the only Turkish age mosque in Hungary that has remained intact together with its minaret and the 13th century Catholic church converted into a mosque in the 1540’s and reconverted into a Catholic church in the 1680’s. I’m sure you’ll be surprised to notice the special combination of the Muslim crescent moon and the Christian cross topping the church, reminding us of the peaceful coexistence of different religions. We admire the harmonious Baroque architecture and also have a look at the Vasarely museum.

After the city tour I take you to the Zsolnay quarter, the completely renovated and restored Zsolnay factory buildings where the most beautiful Hungarian porcelain and ceramic products have been manufactured since 1853.

 

Szentkút – the Holy Fountain

We visited this cute little village last week as it was part of a family research I was working on for my guests arriving from Australia. I’ve never been to Szentkút before but I’m very much impressed by this enormous pilgrimage site, it’s just too bad it was deserted this part of the year. I understand it’s much more crowded in August when open air masses are held for hundreds of thousands of people.

The fountains have been famous for their healing power for some 700 years now and is declared a National Shrine since 2006.

 

 

Sopron, the “most loyal” Hungarian town

I guided several tours in the Northern part of Hungary this summer and Sopron has become my guest’s most popular destination, honestly, I can understand why. That’s the reason why this visit is part of my new tour to Győr and Sopron. The little town is situated near the border to Austria, a beautiful Baroque town rich in medieval architecture.

We refer to Sopron as to the most loyal Hungarian town because its citizens rejected the offer of Austrian citizenship in a referendum after WW1 when two thirds of the Hungarian territories got detached from our country. The anniversary of the referendum is celebrated every year.

During the tour we visit 13th century churches with Romanesque and Gothic structure, the Fire Tower, which is the town’s symbol since its construction in the 1600’s and apartment buildings from the 18th century. You’ll see where our great king Matthias was accomodated when he was besieging Vienna in 1482 and where Franz Liszt gave concerts in the 1800’s. I’ll also show you the ruins of the ancient Roman settlement, you can see the ruins of the town hall and the market from the Roman era.