Pécs Cathedral

Pécs Cathedral is a large Romanesque-Revival basilica with four towers dominating the Cathedral Quarter of the city. The current building dates largely from the 1880s, when it was comprehensively restored and rebuilt by the Vienna architect Friedrich von Schmidt, with earlier medieval and Baroque elements incorporated throughout. The interior is elaborate: colourful murals, carved stone details, and a crypt that preserves 11th-century elements from the original medieval cathedral.

The cathedral faces a pleasant square with a view over the rooftops of the lower town. The Bishop's Palace and the garden walls of the Cathedral Quarter create an almost self-contained ecclesiastical precinct at the highest point of the old city. The Archaeological Museum in the square below has displays of Roman material from the city's ancient history, and the Early Christian burial chambers with their 4th-century frescoes are accessible through the underground museum.

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The cathedral sits on the site of the 4th-century Christian burial grounds that made Pécs a UNESCO World Heritage Site. When 19th-century restoration work began, excavations revealed early Christian painted tombs with remarkable frescoes — including a celebrated image of Adam and Eve — dating from around 380 AD. The tomb chambers are accessible from the Cella Trichora, a small museum below the Cathedral Square. The cathedral you see today is therefore built directly above some of the oldest Christian art in Central Europe.