Zsolnay Cultural Quarter - Pecs, Hungary

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The existence of the Zsolnay Cultural Quarter covering a five-hectare area is due to the Pécs – European Capital of Culture 2010 project. The investment was launched in 2009 in the territory of the then rather run down Zsolnay Factory. The still operating production plant was moved to the buildings on the eastern side of the complex, and the emptied buildings were renewed or reconstructed. Buildings in very bad conditions were demolished. Also, the park of the factory, with monument statues and vases, was renovated. The completed Quarter was officially opened in December 2011. Actually, the quarter located east of the inner city of Pécs consist of four parts: the Handicrafts District, the Creative District, the Children and Family District and the University District. In the Handicrafts District we can get to know the history of the Zsolnay family in an exhibition of the history of the family and the factory, the Sikorski Villa accommodates the Gyugyi collection that present the most beautiful pieces of the golden age of the Zsolnay Factory. The Handicrafts District is also the home of the Pink Zsolnay Exhibition, where, due to the ceramics collection of Barnabás Winkler we can get to know the everyday tools of the Zsolnay ceramics finished in beautiful pink colour. Also, this part of the Quarter has the renewed Zsolnay Mausoleum, the Artists’ House, the Incubator, and the Handicrafts Street with the shops of the handicraftsmen. The centre of the Creative District is the former pyrogranite plant. The building now accommodates the Youth House of the Pécs Youth Centre. The main square of the Quarter is Pyrogranite Square, the central element of which is the characteristic coloured chimney reaching out to the sky. Pyrogranite Square is a venue of events, concerts, and since 2013 in wintertime an ice rink made of polymer panels fills the central place of the Quarter with life. The catering facilities of the Creative District always await guests with fresh and varied menu and a selection of coffees and beverages. Small and grown-up visitors too can spend enjoyable time in the Children and Family District with its interactive scientific and technical exhibition, the Planetarium, the Gallery of Pécs, and the Bóbia Puppet Theatre and Puppet Museum accommodated in the Mattyasovszky House. The spaces among the buildings were converted into sports fields, playgrounds and an open-air stage. The University District houses the Faculty of Music and Visual Arts of the University of Pécs, and two departments of another faculty: the Department of Communication and Media Science of the Faculty of Humanities and the Department of Sociology, formerly located in the university building in Rókus Street. The infrastructure necessary for university life secures the smooth operation of trainings. The cultural life of the city is enriched by the Janus University Theatre that is in the University District too. We must mention other large-scale investments of the Pécs 2010 ECoC project that are in the vicinity of the Zsolnay Quarter. One significant investment was the Conference and Concert Centre of Pécs (the Kodály Centre). The building constructed in the Balokány district was open to the public in December 2010. The multifunctional centre that is also often called Opus2010 is a venue for the implementation of conferences as well, and also accommodates the Pécs Cultural Centre, a bookshop and a café. In the neighbourhood of the Kodály Centre we find another dominant ECoC investment, the South Transdanubian Regional Library and Knowledge Centre opened in October 2010. The four-storey, modern building with a 13,000 square metre area now unites some libraries that were formerly scattered in the city. Libraries that were moved here in the framework of the integration include the City Library of Pécs, the Csorba Győző County Library, the Central Library of the University of Pécs and the special library of legal and economic sciences of the University.