Pécs (German Fünfkirchen), city, southwestern Hungary, capital of Baranya County, at the foot of the Mecsek Mountains, near the Croatian border. Pécs is an industrial city; its economic significance is based primarily on nearby coal mines. Pottery, leather goods, furniture, refined petroleum, and machine tools are manufactured here. In addition, Pécs is a commercial center for the wine and tobacco produced in the surrounding region. The University of Pécs (1922) occupies the site of the first university (1367) in Hungary. Among the principal buildings in the city are an 11th-century Romanesque cathedral and two Ottoman mosques.
Pécs was the site of the ancient Roman settlement of Sopianae. In AD1009 it became a Roman Catholic bishopric. From 1543 to 1686 the city was held by the Ottomans. German miners came to Pécs in the 18th century to work the coal mines. The population was further enlarged by migrations from rural Hungary late in the 19th century. Population (1999 estimate) 159,607.
