8 Best Sights in Pécs, Hungary

Situated in a serene little park in front of Pécsi Bazilika, this subterranean museum—and UNESCO World Heritage site—is home to a series of burial chambers, many with remarkably well-preserved religious murals. The burial site dates back to when Pécs was a Roman outpost called Sopianae, though it was located just outside the city walls (as was the custom). Today, the excavated crypts are linked with a series of suspended metal walkways to help preserve them from damage. Two are of particular note: the beautifully decorated Wine Pitcher Burial Chamber, with its paintings of vines and drinking vessels (best seen from above); and the chapel-like Peter and Paul Burial Chamber, covered in Christian symbols and colorful frescoes (best seen from below).

A "Time Traveler" ticket also gets you into the nearby Early Christian Mausoleum, a tomb with stunning murals of Adam and Eve, Daniel in the Lion's Den, and the Resurrection, as well as the Medieval University.

Crowning the city's main square, Széchenyi tér, this delightful 16th-century Turkish mosque-turned-church is a Pécs landmark. Dating from the years of Turkish occupation (1543–1686) when it was known as the Mosque of Pasha Qasim, the building was converted into a Catholic church in 1702; a fact you might infer from the cross that surmounts the gilded crescent atop the dome. Despite the fierce religious war raging on its walls—Christian statuary and frescoes beneath Turkish arcades and mihrabs (prayer niches)—this church remains the largest and finest relic of Turkish architecture in Hungary. Look out in particular for the enormous painting above the gallery, showing the defeat of the Turks: while triumphalist, the defeated soldiers are depicted rather sympathetically.

You can easily spend half a day exploring this sprawling complex, a city within a city that was opened in 2010 to mark Pécs's status as European Capital of Culture. Built on the site of the old Zsolnay porcelain factory, which was established by Miklós Zsolnay in the 19th century, the streets and squares are adorned with a host of colorful ceramic-tiled features, from industrial chimneys to charming pavilions. Many of the buildings are home to Zsolnay-related exhibits, including the Pink Exhibition, showcasing the factory's early rose-tinted output like the decorative Lotus series; the Golden Age Collection, a series of more than 600 pieces revealing Zsolnay's evolution towards the Art Nouveau style; and the Live Manufactory, where brand-new ceramic creations are molded, painted, and fired. The quarter also has a shopping street, some excellent cafés and restaurants, and even rental apartments. As well as Zsolnay exhibits, it's home to 1861 Kesztyűmanufaktúra, the factory, shop, and exhibition space of luxury glove brand Hamerli; the Bóbita Bábszínház (Bóbita Puppet Theater); and a Planetárium. Head to the cigar room of the Zsolnay Restaurant to see one of Zsolnay's most beautiful and innovative creations; a gorgeous black-and-gold fireplace.

This pedestrianized street in the heart of downtown Pécs is a particularly pleasant place for a stroll. Walking west to east (toward Széchenyi tér), you'll see the beautiful baroque Szent Ferenc-templom (St. Francis Church), which dates back to 1760; Memi Pasa Fürdője (Memi Pasha's Baths), the ruins of a 16th-century Turkish bathhouse; and Jókai tér, a pleasant Mediterranean-style public square with an eponymous cukrászda (cake shop)—one of the city's best.

Just beyond the ancient city wall to the west and unceremoniously sandwiched by two larger and more modern buildings, this beautiful 16th-century Turkish mosque is the only Ottoman-era religious building in Hungary with its original minaret and architecture intact. The interior hosts a museum with a few artifacts from the Turkish period and some Iznik ceramics; for an extra 500 HUF, you can enjoy tea with your visit.

Also known as the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, though it was promoted to basilica rank after Pope John Paul II’s visit in 1991, this is one of Europe’s most magnificent churches with foundations dating back 1,000 years. At the beginning of the 19th century, Mihály Pollack directed the transformation of the exterior, changing it from Baroque to Neoclassical; its interior remained Gothic. Near the end of the 19th century, Bishop Nándor Dulánszky decided to restore the cathedral to its original, Árpád-period style—the result is a four-spired monument that has an utterly breathtaking interior frescoed from floor to ceiling in shimmering golds, silvers, and blues. It's so light and colorful that it feels brand-new. Climb the lookout tower for a beautiful view over Pécs, including the nearby city walls.

The pioneer of Op Art (who left Hungary as a child and spent the rest of his life in Paris), Victor Vasarely was born Gyozo Vásárhelyi in 1908 in this house, which has been turned into something wild, as much a fun house as a museum. The first hall is a corridor of 3D visual tricks devised by his disciples, at the end of which hangs a hypnotic canvas of shifting cubes by Jean-Pierre Yvaral. Upstairs, the illusions grow profound: a zebra gallops by while chess pieces and blood cells seem to come at you.

If you haven't had your fill of Zsolnay, make a beeline for this museum. Occupying the upper floor of the oldest surviving building in Pécs, which dates from 1324 and has been built and rebuilt over the years in Romanesque, Renaissance, and Baroque styles, this museum is a merry show-and-tell waltz through a revolution in pottery that started in 1851. That's when local merchant Miklós Zsolnay bought the site of an old kiln and set up a stoneware factory for his son Ignác to run. Ignác’s brother, Vilmos, a shopkeeper with an artistic bent, bought the factory from him in 1863, imported experts from Germany, and (with the help of a Pécs pharmacist for chemical glaze experiments and his daughters for hand-painting) created the distinctive namesake porcelain. Today, the museum's collection includes Vilmos’s early efforts at Delft-blue handmade vases, cups, and saucers; his two-layer ceramics; examples of the gold-brocade rims that became a Zsolnay trademark; and table settings for royal families. Look up on your tour to see the unusual Zsolnay chandeliers lighting the way.