HISTORY

By winning the "European Capital of Culture" title Pécs was given an outstanding opportunity, by means of the European Union`s grants, to implement investment projects playing decisive role in the city`s cultural, intellectual and artistic life.

HISTORY

By winning the "European Capital of Culture" title Pécs was given an outstanding opportunity, by means of the European Union`s grants, to implement investment projects playing decisive role in the city`s cultural, intellectual and artistic life.

Zsolnay Cultural Quarter, which gained its final form by December of 2011 could came to life under this project. The renovation of the former factory buildings and the area of residence of the Zsolnay family by a HUF-11-billion investment, which was the largest industrial monument reconstruction in Central Europe. As a result, one of the largest cultural center in Hungary was established through renovation of buildings with 40 thousand square meters floor area on 5 acres of land.

The construction began in 2009, and after the summer of 2010 the buildings were completed one after another. First, in September 2010 the exhibition displaying the rare Zsolnay porcelains, the Gyugyi Collection was opened in the renewed villa Sikorski, under the name, The Golden Age of Zsolnay. This was followed by the creation and of the forty-five-meter-long new footbridge connecting the connecting north and south parts of Zsolnay Quarter., and the reconstruction of Zsolnay Mausoleum. Bóbita Puppet theatre, for the delight of the children, has been operating in the Zsolnay Quarter since 2011, as well as the Lab - Interactive magic space and the Planetarium. A new exhibition venue was added to the downtown Pécs Gallery in the Quarter, m21 Pécs Gallery boasting with a really large -m21 mixture. For visitors convenience, a two-storey parking lot was developed at the south side of the Zsolnay road. In the final stage, the former Youth Centre, the today`s E78 building and the university district housing the Faculty of Arts of the University of Pécs, as well as the departments of the Communication and Media Studies, and Sociology Department were completed.

Zsolnay Cultural Quarter is visited by tourists from all over the world as Zsolnay factory, its industrial artistic and cultural charisma and heritage had a decisive importance to the unfolding of the culture of Hungarian applied art of the nineteenth century and the development of the modern city of Pécs. By establishing a variety of cultural, public education, entertainment, culinary and educational facilities here, the area has become a vibrant cultural quarter. In fact, as a recognition of its an outstanding architectural and industry-historical significance, and unique complexity, the Zsolnay Cultural Quarter was included in the list of Hungaricums on 16 May 2014.

But what was life like in the beginning?