Pecs is pronounced Paich and will be crowned European Culture Capital for 2010.
The Turks had 150 years of occupation here and the Romans had 400 years and Christianity flourished in the 4th century.The domed building in the central square has both a crescent representing Islam and a cross for Christianity and is called the Mosque Church. It was originally built as a church and then rebuilt by the the Turks as a mosque without a minaret. Today it is a Christian church.
The city has ruins of 16th century Turkish baths and 4th century Christian cemetery and mausoleums which are now UNESCO listed sites.
We stayed at Pecs's first and only hostel situated in the walking street. It had a. balcony from which we could watch the world go by.
We met lots of interesting people including Julie, an American living in Germany and Ellsworthy, from Sri Lanka who looks after elderly folk in Germany . We cooked a shared dinner and tried some of the lovely local Hungarian wine.
Pecs is a university city and is quiet now as the students are on holiday and have returned to their home towns. There was a German guy in the hostel looking for an apartment in the city so he could study medicine. He said it was cheaper than Germany and the standard of instruction was better through his German sister university in Pecs.
Many British people fly to Hungary on cheap flights to have dental and cosmetic work done as it is better quality than they can get on the National Health system and much cheaper.
The wall of padlocks is a tourist sight here!
