Its basis is crystalline rock of Variscan origin surmounted by Triassic and Jurassic limestone and dolomite and Tertiary formations that form the main block.

Due to their relative small size and medium height, the hills of Mecsek were always politically and economically connected with the neighboring lowlands of Baranya and Tolna, serving primarily as a source of wood.

The first significant political centre of the region was formed on the top of Jakab-hegy during the Iron Age which was later captured and developed into an oppidum by the Celts in the 2nd century BC.

[3] After the Roman conquest of Pannonia the settlement's population, like in the similar cases of Bibracte or Entremont was probably forced to move to the southern slopes of the Mecsek, where Sopianae, the predecessor of Pécs emerged.

Throughout the Hungarian Middle Ages the valleys of the Mecsek became more densely populated, providing raw materials for the thriving episcopal city of Pécs.

Due to the Ottoman occupation of Hungary and the following wars, raids and over-taxation the population growth stagnated, however the everyday and religious life of the locals didn't change much.

In the aftermath of World War I and the collapse of Austria-Hungary, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes occupied the region, but the Treaty of Trianon eventually left the area in the possession of Hungary.