The largest scale investment programme of the Pécs2010 – European Capital of Culture Project was the reconstruction work carried out on the area of the Zsolnay Porcelain Manufacture; turning part of the old factory into the largest cultural quarter of Central-Eastern Europe.
The Zsolnay factory is a famous player of Pécs’s industry. It took decades until it reached its present size. The factory had been owned by the Zsolnay family until it was nationalized by the state after World War II. Most of the previously utilised buildings were abandoned by the end of the 20th century. The idea to create the city’s new cultural district on these premises by transferring the remaining production units to the eastern buildings came at the time of the European Capital of Culture programme. Many of Pécs’s existing cultural and leisure institutions will move into the redesigned, renovated, reconstructed or newly built buildings of the Zsolnay Cultural District on five hectares; and a new exhibition will be opened on the history of the factory featuring an impressive Zsolnay collection. The former industrial buildings will host arts and crafts workshops, catering places, studios and offices, as well as the art faculty of the University of Pécs along with some of the humane studies faculty and the Janus University Theatre. The northern part of the factory site will be connected to the area by Balokányfürdő through a pedestrian bridge above Zsolnay Vilmos street. A large public space will be constructed in front of the so-called ‘fancy chimney’ that can serve as a location for events.
International Programme on Cultural Heritage Management 