summer special - 2016 pécs city guide - issue 12

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PCGPécs CityGuide / Summer 2016 / Issue 12

INSIDE:The ultimate bucket list to Pécs, Kóstolda, Zsolnay-war continues, Fõtér, Cellarium New statue park, Revamped Pécs Zoo, Zsolnay Lightfestival, Turkish carpets and more

SUMMER SPECIAL

2 Pécs City Guide Summer 2016 pecscityguide.com

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HI, as you may have already realized for example from the weather or the quite big magenta badge on the cover: this is the Summer Special of Pécs City Guide magazine. And why is this a special? We have 32 pages again and our topics are a little bit different than usually, e.g. with more events and even more gastronomy.

Since this is an issue for an al-most three-month timeframe we had the chance too select the best of the upcoming concerts, festivals in Pécs and vicinity. Be-tween them a very exciting and new mixed arts festival that could be the next big thing in town.

The next is issue of the maga-zine will arrive in the first week of September. Until then, any feed-back is really appreciated and please feel free to contact us at: [email protected].

Thanks for your attention, and hopefully see you in fall.

Ervin Gűth, editor

Contents04

IN BRIEFZsolnay-war contin-

ues, International con-ducting competition, Re-vamped Pécs Zoo opens

08EXPATS

Vesna mediates between Croatians and Hungarians

10FEATURES

The ultimate bucket list to Pécs, Wines and genes

14DRINK & DINE

Re-openers, Főtér, Cellariium, Kóstolda,

Coffee brewing champ, Wine of Pécs

24TO DO

Turkish carpets, Zsolnay Light festival, Bass Camp, Bishop’s Garden concerts

30ESSENTIALSHigh church

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This issue’s cover photo was taken at the Southeastern corner of Széchenyi square. The installation is the work of

sculptor Zsolt Nyári and was set up af-ter the renewal of the square in 2010. It is not just good to look at it’s also help-ful for people with visual impairment,

thanks to the Braille writings and getting know the public space by touching it.

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Pécs City Guide Summer 2016 | Issue 12The free, insert magazine of Dunántúli Napló in English. Editor-in-chief/Publisher: László Póré Managing editor: Ervin Gűth Contributor: László Nógrádi Published by Mediaworks Hungary Zrt. Baranya Megyei Irodája Sales manager: Gyöngyi Nagy Phone: +36 72 505 060, +36 30 9971 006 E-mail: [email protected] Printed at Paletta Press Nyomda Kft. 2092 Budakeszi, Szőlőskert u. 19. ISSN 08659133


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This is going to be huge. An interna-tional conducting competition has been announced to take place between Oc-tober and December 2016 in Kodály Center (see pic). Invited are young con-ductors (born after 1980) and the win-ner is going to get EUR20,000. The event’s organizer is Filharmonia Hunga-

ry, the only cultural institution in Pécs that runs events countrywide.

The Kodály Centre is one of the best concert halls in Central Europe, not only in terms of sound quality but its archi-tecture has been awarded several times, too. So, we can only say that it’s quite timely to host an international event.

INTERNATIONAL CONDUCTING COMPETITION

As reported in the previous issue of Pécs City Guide: dark clouds over the prestigious Zsolnay factory be-come visible to the public in recent months. The conflict between the Syrian-Hungarian-Swiss investor Bachar Najari and the city of Pécs went on in May and June with pub-lic letters, press conferences, leaked documents, leaked phone call re-cording etc.

According to press reports not only the tax authority is examining the books of the Zsolnay Factory but other criminal investigations are in progress. No official charges have been made. Yet.

Najari held a press conference and gave several interviews where he stated that an interest group backed by the Hungarian government is try-ing to take over the factory.

Meanwhile the city founded a new firm as an ‘emergency plan’ and the workers of the factory acted almost instantly. They left their employer for this new company, but there are still a lot of unclear circumstances.

ZSOLNAY CONFLICTESCALATED QUICKLY

There are several odd records all around the world and you might be asking what’s the point of doing chal-lenges like the fastest 10m on a walking globe by a dog. Honestly, we don’t get it either... But fact is that people do love these oddities. Maybe that’s why city officials had the idea to have a new one since with the ongoing decontstruction of the Magasház Pécs has already lost a

GUINESS WORLD RECORD FOR PLANTING

record, namely the title: tallest uninhab-ited building in Central Europe.

The idea was to plant 14,000 flowers in one hour by 1,000 people, but the event became so popular that 1,500 attendants managed to plant 16,000 flowers in one hour. And by the way: it was a great opportunity for local pol-iticians to have random pictures with their past and future voters.

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There is nothing more refreshing than leaving the burning heat of the concrete jungle of Pécs behind and jumping into the cool pools of the citizen’s most popular sum-mer vacation spot. You find Orfű between delightful hills and new management tries to make the fa-cilities of the Orfű Aquapark even more consumer-friendly.

The marvelous and relaxing at-mosphere, the soft and becalming grass, the refreshing waves, the 1400 sqm adventure pool, the 43 sqm jacuzzi pool quarantee all-day entertainment for the whole fami-

ly. Those who want to spend the day with more activities can choose the sports swimming pool, the seven water slides, the water games, the beach volleyball court and the foot-ball field.

And for the kids there is a whole playground. The children’s pool or baby pool deliver a secure way to amuse and to cool down even the youngest family members.

An important new rule is that the new full-day tickets do allow leav-ing and coming back to the lido area, which makes it possible for visitors checkig out restaurants

outside the facility. Equivalently good news is that there are more bus lines between Pécs and Orfű than in previous years.

While having fun at Orfű Aqua-park let’s not forget that are sev-eral precautions to be made, like drinking lots of water. Also don’t spend too much time in direct sun and don’t jump into the could wa-ter when your body is already over-heated.

Orfű Aquapark is open every day in season between 9am-7pm, dai-ly tickets cost HUF2000 for adults and there are several discount op-tions.

Info: www.orfu-aquapark.hu Adress: 7677 Orfű, Dollár st 1Phone: +36 70 399-1015E-mail: [email protected]

ALL SUMMER FUN AT ORFŰ AQUAPARKSince the real summer heat has finally arrived and Orfű is quite close to Pécs the lido is the ultimate spot for a fun and re-freshing all-day activity. New management started operating the Orfű Aquapark this year and the picturesque setting is as inviting as ever.


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University of Pécs has a long history and tradition of sculpting and the Fac-ulty of Arts is a well equipped institute making it possible for students to ex-periment with different materials and techniques during their studies. Stone sculpture workshops, wood sculpting, CNC milling machines, dry and wet processing techniques, small and big studios are making the department one of the best and workshops for aspiring artists in Hungary.

That said, meanwhile a lot of art-works are produced by students and teachers every year and putting these on display has been a problematic question ever since. There have been

several attempts during the last few decades to create an established way of organizing exhibitions for art stu-dents. Different venues all around the city used to make this possible.

The latest addition to venues where the public can get a sneak peak is the garden behind the Faculty of Arts in the Zsolnay Cultural Quarter. An open air statue exhibition has been created by the faculty and right now six stone sculptures (artists: Lóránt Éles, Péter Lengyel, Balázs Mráv, István Parlagh, Csaba Tóth, László Váraljai) are on dis-play. The organizers hope that this was only the first step and more artworks can join in the future.

NEW STATUE PARK FOR ART STUDENTS’ WORKS

The long needed overhaul of Pécs Zoo started in 2014 and the initial plan was to open it again only one year later. Un-fortunately, re-opening was postponed several times and the initial budget of HUF1,2 billion did rise several times. Lo-cal media reported problems with the reconstruction and building process for example the construction company complained about bad weather. Guess what: it rains sometimes on Mecsek hill...

There were other issues too: a wolf that arrived too early to the unfinished zoo in November 2015, got scared be-cause of the construction’s noise and escaped. The case ended tragically, the director of the zoo had to shoot the an-imal (see more: Pécs City Guide Issue 08/Nov-Dec 2015). Finally, the brand new facility opened in May, but not without even more problems: the zebra shark died prior to the big event.

There are still some animals missing, the website has several issues and first visitors had serious complaints. Mean-while a new director started working in the institution. We hope that there won’t be more errors in the future of the zoo and despite its flaws the new venue is a must for everyone.

ZOO FINALLY OPEN, BUT IS IT STILL UNFISHED?

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T h e t im e l e s s c l a s s i c s

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How long have you been living in Pécs?It will be two years in September. I

moved here with my family. My hus-band helps with my diplomatic activ-ities and my son goes to the Croatian kindergarten. We are from Muraköz county that is a neighbor to Zala coun-ty, Hungary.Do you have any communication diffi-culties here?

Not really. Somehow there are always people around who speak Croatian. Last weekend we have been to a festival in Orfű and we were surprised that we could speak Croatian at least at three or four stands. Maybe this is the rea-son that my 5-year-old son’s Hungarian is much better than mine, since I don’t

There are no embassies in Pécs but Germany, Austria, Italy and Fin-land have Hungarian honorary consuls in the city. Only one consul general has been delegated here by and from her own country that is Vesna Haluga from Croatia. Her favorites are the Zsolnay Cultural Quarter, Jókai square and somlói galuska.

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have to speak it that much. And sure, I’m learning Hungarian, taking classes, the problem is that I don’t have much time. There is a story of a Croatian duke, who managed to learn Hungarian in one year. Okay, that would be a great chal-lenge for me to, but only if I would have nothing else to do, just learning.What are your daily tasks?

This is not an embassy because we are in charge for three counties (Baran-ya, Bács-Kiskun, Somogy) but we have several similar tasks. I have diplomat-ic duties, administrative work, helping with documents, citizenship, helping Croatian businesses, private persons, promoting Croatian culture and I’m also working with the Croatian minorities

in the region. There are about 30 000 Croatians living in these three coun-ties and they are very active. There is something always going on, there are events almost every weekend.Hungarian-Croatian relations are con-sidered to be quite good. What do you do to improve this relationship?

We work on several projects togeth-er. The range is wide: we have classical business development projects, tour-ism programs and so on.What is your first memory of Pécs?

I did already visit Pécs before I took office, since I have been working on cross-border projects in my previous job. I knew this part of Hungary, but it’s different when you come to live here. My first impression was that Pécs looks very much like Zagreb. A beauti-ful city with a perfect size. I was very impressed how colorful the cultural life here is. There is a cultural event every day. And I just love the international spirit that is the outcome of all those minorities living here for centuries. What are you favorite parts of the city? My family and I love the Zsolnay Cul-tural Quarter. My son always asks me to go there, and this is always one of the first places that I show visiting friends and family. I have seen several concert halls all around the world and I have to admit that Kodály Center is one of the most beautiful buildings of its kind. And of course the events are great. Jókai square is my favorite place in downtown, and I love Jókai Bisztró.What are the strengths and weakness-es of Pécs?

The city should rely much more on the university, its traditions and the knowledge available here. I think Pécs has great opportunities and potential in tourism since the infrastructure is there, but more money should be spent on promotion. Much more promotion is needed for special events. On nation-al and on international level too. I hope that something will change and much more tourist will embrace the beau-ties of the city and its surroundings like Villány, Siklós etc. I have been doing a lots of promotion for Pécs myself.What are you missing from Pécs?

Just a river, some water, but you can’t have everything.Is there a favorite food that you learned to love here?

My family loves pörkölt and I do love somlói galuska.

VESNA CONNECTS

PEOPLE AND NATIONS

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The ultimate bucket list to Pécs Ok, maybe this is not a real bucket list since - hopefully - you will have the chance to come back and check out more and more items if you haven’t done so already. Let’s call it a collection of recommendations that is based on our experiences. You are strongly encouraged to follow the best practices of long-time Pécs citizens.

1WALK ON AIR AT THE TV-TOWER OF PÉCS

Hungary’s tallest building with 20,000 visitors yearly is a tourist magnet for a reason. When the air is clean enough you get a wonderful sight in every di-rection from the TV-tower of Pécs. The view of the city and surrounding forests await you at the open observation lev-el that’s quite unique on its own. Sure it is not the most modern spot of the city but serves its purpose well since its opening in 1973. You can get to the ob-servation level by elevator and through the restaurant and bar level. More info: tvtoronypecs.hu

2GO UNDERGROUND Not even every Pécs-born knows

that there are several tunnels and un-used cellar under the city, mainly in downtown. Wealthy citizens used to store wine or other goods here but now-adays these are more like problems for their owners. Several of these tunnels are dangerous and only a few of them can be visited. It’s definitely worth to

make some easy arrangements and see e.g. the tunnels of the old champagne factory below Szent István square. More info: guideinfo.hu

3VISIT THE VASARELY EXHIBITION

Pécs-born artist Victor Vasarely is con-sidered to be the grandfather of the op-art movement and Pécs happens to have one of the best collections of his works. This is not a coincidence, the painter himself donated a great selec-tion to the city in 1968. There are oth-er great collections of his works: one in Budapest and two in France. More info: jpm.hu

4LOCK DOWN YOUR LOVE Several cities try to ban putting

padlocks on public fixtures but in Pécs you are encouraged to do so. Ok, not everywhere but in Janus Pannonius street (pic below) where locks started to appear in the 1970s. At first ex-stu-dents of a nearby school started to cel-

ebrate this way when leaving the hos-tel forever but the tradition’s meaning shifted and couples lock down their love here. Or at the new installations a few meters away.

5 GO HIKING ON THE MECSEK HILLS

There are several wonderful hiking trails in the region to choose from. For the en-

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The ultimate bucket list to Pécs

thusiasts: the longest is about 100 km long, and brings you a great full week-end program. For everyone else: there are small trail that take only a couple of hours. The best starting points are Tettye and the TV-tower. After getting there just follow the signs.

6BUY SOMETHING AT THE FLEA MARKET

The marketplace (pic above) is not as

8 SHOOT A FINAL SELFIE WITH THE MAGASHÁZ

The Magasház is going to vanish by the end of the year. If you haven’t already done so, the time has come to take your final selfie with the iconic building.

9 TAKE ZSOLNAY HOME We hope that the brand itself will

not be harmed in the war between the city and the owners of the factory (see more on that on p5), but meanwhile you can still buy beautiful Zsolnay potter-ies, small accessories. No gift has more of Pécs than something with the Zsol-nay logo on it.

10TRY CIRFANDLI, SZALON, AND MECSEKI ITÓKA

There are three drinks that are heavi-ly associated with the city. The first is the Zierfandler (cirfandli) wine varie-ty, that is only avalaible from the Pécs wine region in Hungary. You can taste the best of them at Zierfandler (that moved to Vasutas for the summer, se more on that on p16) or buy at Borháló (Széchenyi sq). The other is the bitter liqour Mecseki Itóka made from herbs. It had a big comeback some months ago (PCG, Issue 09, February 2016) and is available at several venues in the city. The third one is Szalon beer from Pécs Brewery, that is one of the first brewer-ies of Hungary founded in 1848.

important as it used to be some dec-ades ago but it is still one of the most interesting venues of Pécs. Every Sun-day bargains are guaranteed and you can find real gems here. Our pro ad-vice is to arrive early to find the best deals and leave before it gets over-crowded. That’s around 9am. Check-ing out special antiquity markets (June 30, Aug 4) is also strongly recom-mended. Address: 7632, Megyeri st.

7 EAT BREAKFAST AT THE MARKET HALL

Hungarian meals can be weird and we are very thankful for that. There are several contestants but nothing beats a hearty breakfast in the central mar-ket hall when it comes to fat. For begin-ners there is sausage and blood sausage but advanced players should try cooked pork tongue with garlic (pic on the left) or fried chicken livers that have some-times leftover chicken heart on them. Professionals eat the whole menu of course after a long night of partying and of course coming straight from a club.


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GRAPES, WINES, GENES

Preserving ancient varieties while creating new and probably better types of wine grapes are the key goals of the Research Institute of Viticulture and Enology at the University of Pécs (RIVE-UP). We visited their facilities and had the chance to taste some rareties.

Working with genes and clones is nothing new: plant breeding with the help of selection and creating better properties for crops, fruits, vege-tables has been always an important part of agriculture and agriculture education. From the late 19th century a wine-making and wine-trader school operated in Pécs too. That’s why the foundation of the Exper-imental Branch of the Research Institute of Viticulture in 1949 wasn’t a surprise at all. Ever since the institute and its successors established a world-acclaimed grape gene bank with 1,600 different cultivars. The plantings of RIVE-UP can be found in the Western outskirts of Pécs, that are also the largest vineyards in town since others have been consumed by the expanding city.

In the second half of the last century several new varieties were born in Pécs. The Z-series is the most famous and quite popular in Hungary consisting of wine grapes called zenit, zengő, zeus, zefír and zéta. All of these give early ripening, flavourful white grapes and have mild acidity but are high in sugar. There are also clonal selection projects in progress which means that no cross breeding occurs but the benefits of e.g. spon-taneous mutation are used.

The research conducted in the last decades concentrates on two im-portant circumstances. The first is climate change that has a huge im-pact on wine grapes. Especially on the ripening process. Their second goal is to create varieties that are much more resistant against different diseases. In this way less or none chemicals have to be used in the fields. In both projects researches are working together with the private sector (small and big wineries in the region) and the outcome of these projects is evaluated on a regular basis. That means tasting since the final prod-ucts, wines of excellent quality is the most important.

Visitors can taste the wines made at the cellar of RIVE-UP on guid-ed tours and they have a shop in Pázmány Péter st. But the guided tour is much more interesting since you get the chance to taste rarities that don’t make it into bottles because they are very limited editions.

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Flat for rent in the center of Pécs• Newly built (in 2013) flat,• Ground floor with garden and big terrace,• Three separated rooms (or Living room + 2 bedroom),• 1 car parking place,• With furnitures.Rental fee: HUF185,000 monthly (cca. 600 EUR)

Flat for rent in the center of Pécs• Newly built (in 2013) flat,• Ground floor with garden and terrace,• Living room + 1 bedroom,• 1 car parking place,• With furnitures.Rental fee: HUF130,000 monthly (cca. 430 EUR)

Address: Pécs, Koller street 7.Email: [email protected] | Phone: +36 20 292 0000


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Bringing people together – that’s what restaurants are about. But one special place in Pécs, called Kóstolda (the name is a word play on the verb taste) is bringing peo-ple together with a mission. The aim is to introduce the culture of Gipsies (cigány or roma in Hun-garian) to the majority society. And what better way to present your culture than to invite guests and serve them your own food?

The place can be found quite far from the heart of the city, in Komját Aladár street 2., but the food and the warm hospitality is well worth the trip. Just don’t forget that a reservation has to be made before a visit. The reason is that Kóstolda operates as a home res-taurant, enjoying a special status that allows ordinary people to serve food for guests in an organized way. The

place is run by a society called Színes Gyöngyök (Colorful Pearls) that start-ed programs 13 years ago to support Roma women and help them overcome their unprivileged status.

As Anna Várnai, the president of the society remembers, they always par-ticipated in events, sometimes offer-ing traditional Roma dishes to visitors. They realized that the food attract-ed even those people that otherwise would not approach gipsies – but over the table meaningful discussions be-came possible. Opening a home res-taurant for such occasions was an ev-ident plan and became reality a year ago.

The society celebrates the first birthday of Kóstolda on July 2 with a special event, where music, dance and performanc-es will also be thrown in the mix. Reser-vations and questions are welcome via email. ([email protected])

Certainly, Kóstolda is more of a meeting ground for cultures than just a place to eat. And also a breakout op-portunity for people who suffer preju-dice and discrimination – but basical-ly the most authentic source of Roma food. Their chicken soup, rooster stew and lecsó (a traditional stew of onion, pepper and tomato that can be found in several nations’ gastronomy) are all made with love and care, just like a family meal would be. Also, the rétes (strudel in English, but do not expect the light western variety of the inter-national dessert - these are heavy del-icacies) is a must for anyone in for des-serts.

The prices are reasonable, a full din-ner comes in at around HUF4000 – and you don’t really pay for food, but offer support for a mission that brings cultures closer.

László Nógrádi

EAT YOUR WAY TO ROMA CULTURE

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Caflish operates since 1789 that makes it one of the oldes cake shops of Hungary. Cakes and pastry like our grandmothers made them. Fresh baked goods,

croissants in several flavours. At least 20 different ice creams, sorbets and 34 coffee specialties.

Open: Mon-Fri: 7am-10pm, Sun: 9am-midnight Pécs, Király utca 32.

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RE-OPENERS

LOMPOS USZKÁRWe instantly did love the idea of having an open air pub in the garden of the museum in Káptalan street a couple of years ago. Fortunately, the guys at Lompos Uszkár didn’t mess up anything and it’s still a great place. Even better, the venue improved a lot for this season in many aspects. The wine card that used to be quite good already got an even better update. Another addition is that foods are available on a regular basis. This means that the grill and wood-fired oven is on, but only in the weekends. (This is true as of writ-ing this but owners said that this could change in the near future.) Another feature to highlight is that the music is al-ways great. Info: fb.com/lompos.uszkar

VASUTAS BORKERT&FRÖCCSÖLDEIt’s already the second season for the open air venue, though it has a slightly different name and a slightly different concept. Kalamáris Wineshop and Restaurant teamed up with Zirfandler in the garden of Várady Antal street 7/2 to deliv-er quality wines and thematic wine tasting events in a very casual and budget friendly way. And thanks to the co-oper-ation the list of available wines doubled. This means mainly white wines, roses and easygoing reds. These can be acco-manied with different breads and spreads if you get hun-gry but rumour says that soon grill sausages will be available too. And to whom it may concern: you can watch the Euro 2016 on a huge screen. Info: fb.com/froccsolde

N-EOZINWhen thinking of N-Eozin on the Northern Castle Wall Promenade (that you can access via Esze Tamás street) the Magasház comes to our minds almost naturally. This is the best spot for watching the vanishing building in the summer sunset and a couple of good drinks come very handy when doing our favourit recreational activity. This is not the only reason for recommending: the venue gets bigger and better with each season. The quality of drinks and foods is on the right track. In the past not everything was flawless and may-be service could be faster, but to tell you the truth we didn’t had the chance yet to try as many of the available dishes as last season. Info: fb.com/neozin.kert

SUSOGÓMaybe Susogó does not fit in this selection as well as the others since it’s not an open air venue exclusively but after several months of inactivity it’s finally open again. It got a much needed overhaul and there are a couple of new ideas. The bistro used to be the only fine dining spot for years in Pécs and it’s still the most exciting one, acclaimed by critics countrywide. Weekly menu cards, a fairly new concept and superb ingredients make it possible to experiment a lot. It’s not cheap but in comparison with restaurants of the same quality in Budapest it’s still a bargain. The wines start at around HUF600 so be preperad to leave at least HUF6,000-8,000 here. Info: fb.com/susogopecs

Summer weather and hot evening are finally here that are the best to enjoy at open air venues. There are Lompos Uszkár, Vasutas and N-Eozin are the best re-openers in this game but we gladly added Susogó to the collection.


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We get several questions every month via our Facebook page but there is one that drops in quite frequently. Where to get authentic, good Hungarian food in Pécs? Very good question indeed, and we would love to have a perfect answer but unfortunately there is no good an-swer. There is always some compro-mise. Or at least, this was true for sev-eral decades but there is a trend that might change this. Recently, we found even some quite low profile and budget friendly venues where you can get quite good and authentic food (for example Fekete Kutya that we covered in the May issue). And there are also some places that try to keep their authenticity but adding something more to their meals.

TASTE HUNGARIAN CUISINE WITH A TWIST AT CELLARIUM

This is the path which Cellarium took a couple of months ago. The restaurant over Széchenyi square (and several lev-els below ground) used to be a highly ap-preciated social hub in the 1990s but this changed more than a decade ago. For years we wouldn’t recommend to try an-ything there but new winds are blowing.

They really did radically change their menu card. They keep it short but you can find from fish to poultry and pork anything on the list. And its very inter-esting. Also their weekly offer is great and maybe an even better and more in-teresting option. The last time we tried plum dumplings as a soup. This is a re-ally traditional dish but serving it as a soup is quite uniqe. But also very tasty.

And the same with main course: roasted pork tenderloin, egg noodles and mush-room puree (pic above). Nobody would combine these noodles (called noked-li) with pork at home, but it just works. Though there was too little salt in the noodles, but we could solve that prob-lem. We liked the dessert very much since the walnut pudding (it was definit-ly not a pudding but the experience was close) had complex and interesting fla-vours while still very authentic. And the best for last: you can have a 2 course menu from their weekly offer for only HUF1190 and a 3 course menu for just HUF1490. This is much more than com-petitive and the quality does not change we will be regulars here.

missing workforceAccording to local press reports it’s getting harder and hard-er to find good workforce for restaurants and bars in Pécs. Or any workforce. After a quick check we also did find that just in the first half of June at least 9 restaurants were look-ing for staff, mainly cooks and waiters.

It’s not hard to figure out what the root of the problem is: workers are leaving the country in big numbers again since salaries in Western Europe tend to be 4-5 times higher than in Hungary. Also less and less student job vacations are filled be-cause of the same reason.

But Pécs is not on the list of the most affected spots. Sever-al restaurants couldn’t open timely around lake Balaton where the seasonal demand for employees is huge.

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Villány wine region has several gems to seek out and to explore. So does the lesser known part of it, namely the vi-cinity of Siklós, that is only a 20-min drive from Pécs. Also let’s not forget the fact that for almost a century the prop-er name was Villány-Siklós wine region.

Although the two towns are quite close to each other Villány is famous for its red wines especially Portugies-er, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvi-gnon, while Siklós is better known for its whites. This, or to give you the location even more precisely, the Csukma valley

TRADITIONS COME TO LIFE AT KALMÁR CELLAR

is the home of Kalmár Cellar that has been renewed in recent years. The ex-ceptional rural architecture of the ter-race or the seating-room, and the coun-try-style atmosphere guarantee a warm welcoming environment. This make the place a perfect venue to explore local

cuisine and local wines. The family business voted for

authenticity and thanks to this you can taste several great Hun-garian foods here. They special-ize in pörkölt, meals made in the wood-fired oven and fish dishes. At least these are the most pop-ular ones.

Unfortunatly you cant just drop in, but have to book in advance. Except for thematic event like Fish Days or some traditional festivities.

The vinery can accommodate 70 peo-ple which make it an ideal place for fam-ily gatherings or even business events and conferences.

Siklós is as exciting as the more known parts

of the wine region

brewing champ

Most people love the classic es-presso or moka style coffee in Hungary but the filter coffee can’t be labeled as just a hype anymore. More and more coffee shops have several filter coffee options avail-able like V60 or the Aeropress. In Pécs too.

The trend is quite obvious since Hungarian barista competitions have filter brewing disciplines for years now and the winners are delageted to compete at interna-tional championships. In 2016 Pécs was represented at the annual Hungarian Brewers Cup by Máté Fe-jes, one of the baristas of Pécsi Kávé in Irgalmasok street.

Máte had the best results in the semi-finals but came in as the sec-ond at the finel round of the cham-pionship. Being the second best fil-ter coffee brewer in the country is also quite good - to say the least - and we can only congratulate. And of course taste some of his art in Irgalmasok street.

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The first thing I have to say about Főtér (translated: main square) is that it isn’t flawless at all but still probably the best thing that could happen to the shop that used to be McDonald’s. The franchise is a fading memory here but not burg-ers. And we are coming to the foods in a minute but I also have to say that a lot of people get something wrong. This is not a restaurant but a wine bar and coffeeshop that happens to have good food. This should be obvious already by reading the store front sign, but believe me it isn’t. And this is why a lot of peo-ple are unfair when criticizing the ven-ue. There is a lot to criticize about the

FÕTÉR IS GETTING BETTER, BUT IS THIS ENOUGH?

place but the menu card, and the food is pretty good.

Their burgers are superb, that is no wonder since they get the Charlois beef for the patties from their very own farm. The spreads (pic above) made of cottage cheese, lard and sausages are definite-ly filling a gap. These are just perfect to accompany the great wines available. No doubt, the quality of the wines is al-ways excellent thanks to the coopera-tion with the neighbour (Hungary’s big-gest wine retailer), but serving them is still quite a challenge for the staff. The wines start at around HUF300 which is more than budget friendly. On the oth-

Dri

nk &

Din

e

er hand, it can happen that white wines aren’t cold enough and red wines are of-ten too cold. The second is the small-er problem but it’s still a problem. The coffee is also quite problematic and it’s almost a riddle how this can happen since the machines are great, the grind is great but somehow the sip is dull and just boring. This could be much better also with just a little bit more attention.

Several friends told me that I can call myself quite lucky since the initial staff members made their experiences som-what unpleasant, but I can’t recall any-thing like that and we spent some nice workday evenings here.

wine of pécsSold out and full-house. This year’s Wine Of Pécs competition and public tasting was the most successful in the event’s his-tory. More than 300 guests had the chance to try 30 wines from 10 wineries of the Pécs wine region that entered the contest in May.

The audience awarded in two of the four categories (best rosé and best red wine) Planina Wine House from Mohács. The best white wine and best dessert wine trophy was awarded to Hárs Bio Cellar from Szajk.

The absolute winner of the afternoon was the red blend Prím Cuveé 2012 of Planina Wine House since it did not only get the popular vote but the professional jury did choose it as the absolute winner.

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Our 200-year-old cellar is located on the main street of Villány and we warmly welcom everybody with home made specialties, mixed plates and exclusive advanture rides. We offer wine tastings in the 200 years old cellar, we do sell wine di-rectly. You can visit our wine making facilities on guided tours (book-in advance min. 10 visitors). Adventure rides in Ördögárok, wherethe wines come from.You can get a hint of the feeling what it’s like to be from Villány.

OpenMonday-Sunday: 10am-8pm

Günzer Tamás Pincészete | Villány, Baross G. 104. | www.borpinceszet.hu

Our Hall Of Fame


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The Hungarian Museum of Applied Arts in Budapest has the second larg-est collection of Ottoman Turkish car-pets after the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art in Istanbul.

Unfortunately this valuable collec-tion is hardly ever on display and its great to have a selection of them in Pécs.

The carpets were regular features of the home decorations of Hungari-

According to Pécs-born painter István Jarmeczky his paintings project visual thoughts about sense and emotion on different levels of abstraction; thoughts about life which are condensed for a particular moment. He wants to evoke a transcendent feeling by using the visual elements of our wider surroundings: earth, water, air, and fire.

JARMECZKY 65

OTTOMAN TURKISH CARPETS ON THE WALLS

an nobliliary manor-houses in the era of the Turkish occupation of Hunga-ry. They were not placed on floors but on tables and walls, under the feet of the bride and groom at weddings, put on church benches, but wonderful car-pets covered the insides of celebration and army tents too. Until August 20, Tue-Sun 10am-6pm, Csontváry Museum (Janus Pannonius st 11) Info: pecsimuzeumok.hu

Local bands and Hungarian live acts, local wineries and foods mark this two-week event. You will find the festival stage in front of the cathe-dral while the booths get shelter un-der the chestnut trees. Event tip: Bu-dapest Voices (pic above) on June 25. June 19-26, 7pm, Sétatér More info: fb.com/pecsifesztival

SÉTATÉR FESTIVAL

WHITE GOLD -ROYAL SETS

A temporary exhibition shows a col-lection of dish sets from the world famous porcalain manufactury of Herend. Sometimes called white gold, the noblest of ceramic mate-rials has long traditions in the city and unlike Zsolnay it became a real success story after the fall of com-munism again.Until Sep 11, Museum Gallery (Kápta-lan st 4) Info: pecsimuzeumok.hu

PHO

TO: J

PM

The exhibiton in Zsolnay Cultural Quarter’s M21 Gallery gives an over-view of the prolific painters contem-porary, actual projects (mainly oil and acryl on canvas) and it’s not a retro-spective display.Until Aug 7, Tue-Sun: 10am-6pm, M21 Gallery (Zsolnay Cultural Quarter). Tick-ets: HUF250/500, Info: pecsprogram.hu

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Pécs has a couple of mixed arts fes-tivals throughout the entire year but the latest addition to the summer line-up tries to be something different.

The Zsolnay Lightfestival brings cir-cus performances, street performanc-es, events for kids to whole downtown and Zsolnay Cultural Quarter but only to accompany the first internation-al light mapping competition in Hun-gary. Okay, also let’s not forget that several concerts with well-known in-ternational stars have been also an-nounced. Basically, if we get the idea right, this is something that can be considered as a real (and unfortunate-ly the first real) attempt to bring back the magic of the festive year of 2010 when Pécs was one of the European Capital of Cultures.

The Zsolnay Lightfestival called out an international competition for a money-prize for light mapping artist. 3D video and architecture mapping artists who project visuals, different textures on buildings from all around the world entered the contest. After sunset their playground will be the fa-cade of the Cathedral of Pécs while the topic of the performances is ‘the

ZSOLNAY LIGHTFESTIVAL birth of light’. But not enough several other buildings all around downtown will get their visual tune up and many of these performances will be en-hanced by strong audio shows.

And for the concerts: without doubt, three-time Grammy-award nominee Natalie Imbruglia performing on July 2 will be the most well-known mu-sic artist of the festival, but the con-cert of Spanish singer Buika on July 1 is another highlight that should not be missed. The concerts are scheduled for 7.30pm and 8pm at Dóm square, but before and after these perfor-mances several other internation-al and Hungarian bands will cheer up the audience. But there is even more. During the day street performers and circus artists from all Argentina, Bel-gium and Hungary will gather in Pécs and bring shows at several locations. There will be some unique locations that haven’t been used for event at all and it will be fun to see e.g. the bath of Memi Pasha filled with life again.

To see more and learn more just visit the website of the festival. July 1-3, Several venues, More info: zsolnayfenyfesztival.hu/en

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One of the most unique venues used to be closed to the public for decades but recent years - and of course the new bishop - changed that. The Bishop’s Gar-den will open its gates again for classical music, jazz and cross over concerts on three summer evenings. The series is or-ganized by Filharmonia Hungary.

On July 17 singer Georgina Kanizsa is joining the trio of 30-year-old pianist and composer Dezső Oláh, József ‘Plútó’ Horváth (bass), András Pecek Lakatos (percussion) to bring you contemporary jazz sounds.

On August 2 the Anima Musicae Chamber Orchestra established in 2010 by students of the Franz Liszt Acade-my of Music in Budapest goes for sure with the best and most popular of real classics.

On August 28 the crossover choir from Pécs Voisingers closes the event series for the season with a delightful and entertaining mix of pop sounds and a classic choir techniques.July 17/August 2/August 28, 7pm, Bish-op’s Garden (Király st 19), HUF2160 -2700. Info: filharmonia.hu/en

CONCERTS AT BISHOP’S GARDEN

BASS CAMP

For the first time Orfű, the cosy holiday village next to Pécs, welcomes a sym-pathic new festival for electronic mu-sic. The line up has some international live acts but consist mainly of Hungar-ian performers. If you are interested in upbeat electronic sounds from jungle to trap it’s really worth to check out the full listing and find some real surprises.July 22-23, Orfű (Panorama Kemping, Dollár st 1) Info: basscamp.hu Tickets: HUF5,000-12,000.

OPEN CELLARS IN PALKONYA

There are big events every month in the Villány wine region, and Palkonya is keeping the pace. The village - European Cultural Village in 2007 - is famous for its open cellar weekends in May but for the first time they organize the event in the summer too.

And what to expect from the gather-ing? Wine tastings, concerts, children’s programmes. The event is free but you have to purchase a glass (HUF800) if you want to try local wines. Getting there is easy: just take the train. July 2, Palkonya. Info: villanyiborvidek.hu

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H7773 VILLÁNY, DIÓFÁS STR. 1. +36 72 592 009 w w w . g e r e t a m a s . h u

The best way for sightseeing: Segway Pécs. The Segway Pécs is a tourism company organizing exciting Segway tours both in Pécs and the region.

7621 Pécs, Irgalmasok u. 16. | Mon-Sun: 10am-6pm | +36-30/ 327-3666 | [email protected]


We usually do not cover the churches of Pécs. The rea-son is simple: there are

plenty of them, most of them have a similarly interesting background sto-ry, beautiful architecture and a viv-id setting. And their are very impor-tant during the city’s whole history. To proove that, I only have to mention the German name of Pécs that is Fün-fkirchen, meaning five churches in Eng-lish. Acknowledging their importance, we just don’t have the space to write about them all. But this time I’m going to be a little bit unfair with the others and tell the story of the church that is above them all. Literally. And this is the church of Havihegy.

It may not be the biggest of the tem-ples of Pécs, but certainly there is something about it. When approach-ing the city from Harkány the all white building on the all white cliff can be

easily spotted thanks to it color and its setting. It sits on the top a limestone cliff called also Havihegy, that is also the name of the whole district. The cliff had several names prior to that for example Kakasdomb (translated: roos-terhill), but got its final name certain-ly after 1691 since this was the year when the black death left Pécs and the story of the church began.

During the plague the citizens of Pécs made an oath that if the terrible dis-ease disappers they are going to build a new temple. The legend says that the grateful people transported all the building materials with their very own hands to the top of the cliff. No won-der that it took seven years to build.

The temple was inaugurated in 1698 and made even bigger in 1710 but af-ter a fire the whole furnishing had to be exchanged. It got its final form that

can be seen today after that, in 1780. Another intersing fact is that there are three different crucifixes around the temple and each of them is sym-bolizing something else. The most well known is also the latest one. The one thaz looks down on Tettye. Here, the pose of Jesus is the most tragic of them all, you can almost feel the pain. The structure is a replacement since the original has been destroyed in th 1960s when three youngster tried to impress a girl. After a night of partying they knocked over the original cruxi-fix that stood there for more than 200 years. The church has a very engaged com-munity, every Sunday the mass-es are celebrated with a full house. Havihegy temple has its own celebra-tion in August when believers come from everywhere.

HIGH CHURCHby

Ervin Gűth

Esse

ntia

ls

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summer special - 2016 pécs city guide - issue 12

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