Even in prehistoric times man found shelter and a place to settle in the
Pécs region. Protected by the Mecsek hill, the Roman settlement of
Sopianae had already become a city 2000 years ago. By the end of the 3rd
century AD Sopianae was one of the administrative centres of the
province of Pannonia. Romans arriving here from the Mediterranean area
almost certainly felt at home, and present-day guests from Italy
probably feel the same when they visit modern-day Pécs. Indeed, is there
any Hungarian city that is more "Italian" than Pécs? Looking at
Széchényi tér (square) and the incandescent stones of the Jami (a type
of mosque) on a hot summers day, walking through the southern-style
Jókai tér in the late afternoon, visiting the promenade, the open-air
restaurants and cafés of Király utca (street), and sitting down on the
stone rims of the fountains on Színház tér, the visitor can feel
transported to Italy. Viewing the city panorama from Harkány, the
traveller could be in the hills of Toscana or Lazio.
It is
certainly no accident that Janus Pannonius, the poet educated in the
Italian renaissance, made his home at the episcopal castle. He sang of
the almond tree flowering in wintertime, which even today are still
blooming under the Niké statue, on Havihegy (hill) or in the Szkókó
district at the beginning of spring. Looking down across the glittering
surface of the Pellérd lakes, the eye searches for the sea in the
distance, but the horizon is closed by the Croatian mountains, although
the Adriatic Sea is only a few hundred kilometres behind them. Locals
often imagine how marvellous it would be if only a small bay of Adriatic
could wash upon the foot of the Mecsek hill. But alas for Pécs there is
not even a small river...
