Pécs (/peɪtʃ/ PAYTCH, Hungarian: [peːt͡ʃ] ⓘ; Croatian: Pečuh; Slovak: Päťkostolie German: Fünfkirchen, pronounced [fʏnfˈkɪʁçn̩] ⓘ; also known by alternative names) is the fifth largest city in Hungary, on the slopes of the Mecsek mountains in the country's southwest, close to the border with Croatia.

A city dating back to ancient times, settled by the Celts and the Romans, it was made an episcopal see in early medieval Hungary.

[4] In other languages: in Latin, Quinque Ecclesiae; in Italian, Cinquechiese; in Croatian, Pečuh; in Serbian, Печуј (Pečuj); in Slovak, Päťkostolie; in Czech, Pětikostelí; in Dutch, Vijfkerken; in German, Fünfkirchen; and in Turkish, Peçuy.

The Mecsek hills are marked by numerous valleys which play a key role in ameliorating the climate of the city in the absence of lakes and rivers.

Waters coming down from the Mecsek hills flow into the Pécsi stream under the east–west rail road leading them eventually to the Danube.

[8] By the end of the century, Roman rule weakened in the area, mostly due to attacks by various Barbarian peoples, more prominently the Huns.

[9] According to György Györffy's theory of place names, after the Hungarians conquered the Carpathian Basin, they retained a semi-nomadic lifestyle, changing pastures between winter and summer.

The great humanist poet, bishop Janus Pannonius, developed Pécs into one of the cultural and arts centres of the country.

In 1541, the Ottomans occupied the castle of Buda and ordered Isabella, the widow of John, to cede Pécs to them, due to the city's strategic importance.

Pécs was preparing for the siege, but a day before, Flemish and Walloon mercenaries fled from the city and raided the nearby lands.

The churches were turned into mosques, complete with minarets; Turkish baths and were built, Qur'an schools were founded, and there was a bazaar in place of the market.

[citation needed] Several Turkish structures also survived, namely three mosques, two minarets, remnants of a bath over the ancient Christian tombs near the cathedral, and several houses, one with a stone cannonball embedded in the wall.

The census of taxpayers from 1698 lists 637 families, for which Janja Živković Mandić concludes that 308 were of Croatian nationality (Catholic Croats, Racs, Šokci, Bunjevci, Illyrians, Slavs, Bosniaks[clarification needed]) and the remaining 329 were Hungarians, Germans, Serbs or Greeks.

Because Hungarians were only a minority, Pécs did not support the revolution against Habsburg rule led by Francis II Rákóczi, and his armies pillaged the city in 1704.

Bishop George Klimó, an enlightened man (who founded the first public library of the country) would have agreed to cede his rights to the city, but the Holy See forbade him to do so.

When Klimó died in 1777, Queen Maria Theresa quickly elevated Pécs to free royal town status before the new bishop was elected.

According to the first census (held in 1787 by the order of Joseph II), there were 1,474 houses and 1,834 families in Pécs, a total of 8,853 residents, of which 133 were priests and 117 were noblemen.

At the end of World War I, Baranya county was occupied by Serbian troops, and it was not until August 1921 that Pécs could be sure that it remains part of Hungary.

During World War II, Pécs was captured by Soviet troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front on 29 November 1944 in the course of the Budapest Offensive.

After the end of Socialist era (1989–1990), Pécs and its county, like many other areas, were hit hard by the changes, the unemployment rate was high, the mines and several factories were closed, and the war in neighboring Yugoslavia in the 1990s affected the tourism.

The NSG handled the relaying of supply, personnel and other logistical tasks between the participating countries and their deployed forces in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

In 1998 Pécs was given the UNESCO prize "Cities for Peace" for maintaining its cultural minorities, and also for its tolerant and helping attitude toward refugees of the Yugoslav Wars.

[22][23] A good example of the city's history and interesting past can be seen in the main square, where the Gazi Kasim Mosque still stands, and, although consecrated as a church following the retreat of the Ottoman Turks centuries ago, the crescent moon of Islam is still visible on the cupola, surmounted by a cross.

Indeed, Pécs is the richest town in Hungary in terms of Turkish architecture, with the ruins of Memi Pasa's Baths and the mausoleum of miracle worker Idris Baba, just two other notable remains.

[2] Due to the number of international students studying and living in Pécs, a notable diversity of non-permanent citizens could be obviously seen around the city.

The walls and roofs of several public and private buildings in the city are decorated with the company's porcelains contributing to Pécs's unique cityscape.

[51] The country's largest solar cell field is also in Pécs, thanks to the city's southern location and longer sunny hours, which can produce about 10 MW energy a year.

In the recent past it used to be divided in two universities, one for Medicine and Orthodontics (POTE)[54] and a larger one for other studies: JPTE (Janus Pannonius Tudományegyetem).

The local Municipal Assembly, elected at the 2019 local government elections, is made up of 26 members (1 Mayor, 18 Individual constituencies councillors and 7 Compensation List councillors) divided into this political parties and alliances:[56] Fidesz policies in Pécs have included a law making homelessness illegal (2014)[57] and an official call to property owners not to make space available for an NGO supported by OSF (2017).

[60] The building itself was built in the style of Renaissance Eclecticism, and it features reliefs depicting James Watt and George Stephenson designed by Ármin Klein and made by the Zsolnay factory.