Pécs was the Cultural Capital of Europe in 2010 (besides Essen, Germany, and Istambul, Turkey) This cache was placed to commemorate this year-long event and also the renovation of the Széchenyi square.
History of the square
The square bearing the name of István Széchenyi in the last 140 years, has been the most important square of the city since the 13th century.
The second half of the 13th century was the time when learning from the devastating Tartar invasion, Pécs, like many other Hungarian settlements, were surrounded by a wall. Through this wall - that protected a rather large, 1 km2 area, - four gates leading into the town. The roads coming through these gates met in the center of town. Where the roads met, travelers and merchants stopped to rest, to exchange information, and to sell their goods to the locals. Soon an upper and a lower square evolved.
In the middle of the upper square stood the Catholic church named after Saint Bartholomew. It is not known when exactly this church was built, it first appears in a document in 1309.
Pécs was occupied by the Osman forces in 1543. The Turks planned to be here for good, so they soon changed the city and especially the main square and its surroundings to suit their taste and culture. The Saint Bartholomew church was demolished and its stones were used to build a mosque that still stands here, functioning as a Catholic church in the last 300 years. A bath was built east of the mosque and a Turkish well in front of it, and another well on the lower part of the square. The square was occupied by oriental merchants, selling oriental goods.
Pécs was reconquered from the Turks 143 years later, in 1686. The fights before and after the takeover were merciless, parts of the city were burnt to ashes more than ones, inhabitants were killed or chased away. It took a long time for Pécs to recover.
By the 18th century the square was rebuilt, the Turkish buildings demolished or redesigned.
The first Holy Trinity statue on the middle of the square was erected in 1714. As it was made of soft sandstone, it did not last too long, needed to be replaced in 1750. The current, third statute was made by György Kiss, erected in 1908.
By the 19th century, Pécs became the most important city of the South-Transdanubian region. Local rich craftsmen and merchants had their modern, elegant homes built around the square.
In 1834, on the lower section, the old city-hall was replaced by a new, two-storey building. The much larger current building was constructed in 1907.
The Hotel Nádor opened in 1845 on the upper part. Some 50 years later this proved to be too small, too. The old building was replaced by a larger, lavishly furnished new hotel in 1902. It operated until 1989 and has been closed ever since, with many promises to reopen.
About 50 meters SE from the cache you can refresh yourself at the Zsolnay well (from spring to fall). Originally a Turkish well stood here. The Zsolnay well was a gift to the city by Miklós Zsolnay, created in 1912, erected here in 1930, made of glazed pirogranite, the product of the Zsolnay factory. The metallic green glaze of the oxen heads is a Zsolnay specialty.
After a long debate, the square got modernized in 2010. When we were placing the cache the work was still not finished, but it looked very promising. Please, let me know in your log if you like the result or not!
Please, look at the picture gallery to see some glimpses of the square's last 180 years.
I could tell you a long story about each building and statue, but now it is time to discover them for yourself.
How to get there?
The square is not accessible by car. I usually park on the top of the large shopping mall, called Árkád. If you just run for the cache and return within an hour, parking is for free. This parking is not open at night! The distance from the mall is about 600 meters.
Other parking areas are available nearby, but parking in downtown is never easy and never cheap, so walking is the best option.
How to find the cache?
Look for something small and black.
Stealth required when retrieving/replacing the cache.
Please, bring your own pen, as the cache is too small to hold one.
Thank you for your visit. Have a nice time in our beloved hometown!
