Pécs Common Cemetery (Pécsi Köztemetö) Traditional Geocache
Pécs Common Cemetery (Pécsi Köztemetö)
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Difficulty:
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Size: 
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Congratulations to a_i_r for being the FTF!
I am inviting you to a 148 acre (60 ha) park, a place of work for 80 people, and a place of eternal rest for 170,000. To a park where you can have a nice stroll among shady trees, passing nice sculptures, and thinking about the meaning of life. To a place that is the "home" for more people then the city itself. To one of the largest cemeteries in Hungary.
A láda a geochaching.hu oldalon GCPTMT név alatt található.
Geocoins, small TBs are welcome. If you drop or take a TB, please don't forget to register the move!
OPENING HOURS:
From 2nd of April to 2nd of November: 6 am to 8 pm
From 3rd of November to 1st of April: 7 am to 5 pm
The History of the Cemetery
In 1879 the City of Pécs passed a motion that the old cemetery near the present Balokány area has to be liquidated and a larger, new cemetery established. In a "short" 25 years the task was accomplished. Several sites came into question. After a long debate, the plot next to the road towards Siklós was selected.
The implementation started in 1903. First the required buildings were erected, (but the large cemetery chapel honoring Saint Michael was established only in 1933), then the richly decorated main gate and the stone wall. After the roads were mapped, the sale of individual burial places could be started. Also, the mortal remains were moved here from the old cemetery. The old, attractive tombstones, memorials were relocated here as well. The gravestones not considered to be of artistic or sentimental value were used to pave the Széchenyi square and the Dóm square. (In front of the cathedral we are still walking, stumbling on these, the Széchenyi square has received new pavement in 2009-2010.)
The inauguration of the new cemetery was on November 4th, 1904. By then the first funeral has already taken place. Twenty three years old Anna Windischmann, who died of pneumonia, was buried here the day before. She was the wife of József Szemán, a railway employee and the mother of a little boy. Her grave is still maintained by her descendants.
The Present of the Cemetery
The number of graves grew steadily in the last hundred and some years. The cemetery had to be enlarged first in 1922, then during World War II, and more than once since then.
The vast area is divided to 69 plots.
Soldiers from twelve nations who lost their lives in the first or the second world war rest in four plots.
It is heartbreaking to look at the tiny graves of children. In the middle of their plot stands a statue of the "Eternal Child", made of Carrara marble. Every year hundreds of white oregami cranes cover the lawn around the memorial on All Saints' Day.
A separate plot is dedicated to men and women who served humanity even after their death by offering their bodies for research. The university's medical faculty takes care of this plot and commemorates these people's memory each year.
A uniformed, so called American type plot is established for those who die without relatives and get buried by the city.
The most attractive graves are near the main entrance, along the stonewall next to the main (Siklósi) road, and around the chapel.
As you approach the cache, which is near the wall, you pass several nice statutes, but if you feel like it and have the time, there are many more to see. Some of my favorites are marked as waypoints.
How to Get There?
That's easy! You can come by car and park either along the western wall or in the parking lot of the Interspar north of the cemetery. If you come from the direction of the city it is much easier to park at the Interspar than to make a U turn to get to the cemetery wall.
City bus lines number 6, 7, 41 and 42 have stops at the cemetery. They start from the railway station and go by the long distance bus terminal as well.
Dedication
This cache commemorates my ancestors. My great-grandfather was the first to be buried here in 1926. Now we have about 10 graves with more than 20 people to visit, to take care of. On All Saints' Day several members of the family go together: parents, siblings, cousins, children. While we walk all over the cemetery from one grave to the next, we talk about the deceased, share fun stories about them. This way we keep them alive in our memories and introduce them to the next generation.
A walk in the cemetery is always a pleasant one for me. I hope it will be the same for you. Don't forget, the cemetery is for the living! Happy caching!
Sources:
Pécsi Temetkezési Kft.
BAMA newspaper article
Initial cache content: logbook, pen, unactivated geocoin for the FTF, Strombus pathtag for the STF, (it looks sort of like a microcoin, but it is yours to keep. Just, please log it on Pathtag.com so I know where it went), silicone geocacher bracelet, a neat pin, vampire teeth, smiley figure, Garmin lanyard.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Gur irgrevanevna urycf/Nm áyyngbeibf frtíg.