The Zsolnay Quarter, Pecs

The Zsolnay family began making ceramics in Pecs in the 1850s, and by 1900 the firm was supplying the frost-proof pyrogranite tiles and architectural ornament that appear on the Matthias Church roof, the Museum of Applied Arts and hundreds of other buildings, together with a lustrous metallic glaze called eosin that no competitor could copy for years. The factory site on the eastern edge of the city was rebuilt as a cultural quarter for the European Capital of Culture year in 2010. Several buildings hold collections: the family villa and mausoleum, the Gyugyi collection of art nouveau eosin pieces, a yard of pyrogranite sculpture, and studios where potters still fire work.

What you actually see

• The Gyugyi collection - art nouveau eosin vases in shifting green and gold lustre.
• The pyrogranite yard - large glazed architectural sculpture in the open air.
• The family mausoleum - the Zsolnay tomb building, tiled inside and out.
• The working studios - potters and ceramicists at benches in the old workshops.

When to go

April to October, since a good part of the quarter is outdoors and the walk out from the centre is unpleasant in bad weather. Most buildings close on Mondays. The site hosts concerts and festivals in summer, which is when it feels populated rather than half-empty. Allow half a day if the ceramics interest you, an hour if they do not.

Honest expectations

The quarter is spread out and partly underused, with buildings whose function has changed since 2010 and some simply closed on the day you visit. Ticketing is per building and genuinely confusing at the entrance. It is a twenty-minute walk from the centre and uphill coming back. The ceramics reward real interest and will bore anyone without it within ten minutes.

Nearby

The centre of Pecs, its cathedral and the Roman burial chambers are all within a half-hour walk.