
I visited this WHS in 2022 as a very convenient stopover between Budapest and Serbia, and I followed other reviewers' recommendation to stay over at the Art Nouveau Palatinus Grand Hotel at the heart of Pecs with great underground parking. The area of Pecs has been inhabited continuously for about 2,000 years, ever since the Roman times (when Pecs was known as Sopianae). However, the focus of this WHS are the early Christian necropolis sites, located in the northwest of the inner city on the slopes of the Mecsek Hills, in the vicinity of the cathedral. They are regarded as the largest single Christian tomb complex outside Italy.
The community of Sopianae built a significant number of burial structures (chapels, burial chambers, built tombs) in the 4th century. These buildings' OUV lies in their architecture as well as their artistic features. The first Paleo-Christian burial chamber to be unearthed way back in 1782 was the Peter and Paul octagonal burial chamber and most of the excavations took place after inscription on the WH list in the year 2000. In total 16 burial chambers and several hundred tombs were discovered. Of the 16 burial chambers, 5 are painted burial chambers. The barrel vaulted burial chamber between the Cella Trichora and the Cella Septichora was probably the burial place of a revered member of the community. Early Christian art was not primarily intended as a decoration. Paintings, sculptures and even buildings served as symbols. The painters are unknown, but probably they were migrant Italian artists. Currently, the Cella Septichora Visitor Centre is closed and undergoing major restoration and renovation works (planned to reopen in 2023), but usually visitors can admire the Wine Pitcher burial chamber, the Peter and Paul burial chamber, the Octagonal burial chamber, as well as Burial chambers No. III (unpainted), IV (unpainted), XIX and XX. The UNESCO WHS plaque is still visible on the floor next to the main entrance to visitor centre.
A few metres further on, just opposite the Pecs Cathedral, there are the remains of an Early Christian mausoleum and a newly renovated centre giving access to the underground painted crypt discovered in 1975 beneath the open-air chapel foundations. The frescoes on the crypt walls depict the fall of Adam and Eve and other early Christian symbols including a Christogram. The temperature inside the crypt is permanently kept at 15 degrees with 55 % humidity to preserve the paintings so it is only possible to view the crypt interior through a glass panel (a bit like Tarquinia or Cerveteri in Italy but with much better lighting). Between St. Stephen Square and Apaca utca, there are Early Christian sepulchral structures and a burial chapel (with a UNESCO WHS plaque outside modern apartments and closed when I visited), a painted double grave (visitable only if you're lucky to find someone willing to answer the bell and open their private property to let you in; something quite rare as white tape now covers the orange and grey bell mentioned in Els' review), and an unpainted burial chamber just opposite. For the time being, burial chambers no. VI, VII, VIII and IX, the Cella Trichora and the communal burial chamber are closed to the public.
Apart from the Early Christian sites, Pecs is a very pleasant town to visit with other highlights along Kiraly street such as the Mosque of Pasha Gazi Kassim/Church of Gyertyaszentelo Boldogasszony, as well as the Pecs Synagogue, the Pecs Cathedral and Bishop's Palace, the Barbican and town walls, the Zsolnay Cultural Quarter, etc. After Budapest, it is most probably Hungary's second best WHS and town.
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