As you may well know, in 2010 a Hungarian and a German city will bear this title and Pécs is one of the Hungarian candidates. It was in 2002 that we decided to submit our application to win the title of "the Cultural Capital of Europe" and through a series of discussions, draft documents and hot debates we finally submitted the preliminary application in December 2004. What you find on this page is the outcome of this work together with the main concept of our application. The citizens of Pécs are proud of living in a city with a two thousand year-old history. They are proud that their early Christian necropolis was included on the World Heritage Site List of UNESCO, that their city has been an Episcopal seat for nearly one thousand years and that the first Hungarian university was founded here. Pécs is the largest city of South Transdanubia, the seat of the region and the county and the city of the largest Hungarian university. Every year thousands of tourists come to see Pécs for its Mediterranean-like climate, its historic monuments, museums, festivals and the wine-routes to be found nearby. Pécs has several characteristic symbols that can be used to identify it easily. The cathedral with its four towers, the mosque on the main square, the Zsolnay pottery, the Vasarely or the Csontváry Museum all remind any enthusiast supporter of Hungarian culture of Pécs. Our goal is to make sure that from 2010 not only Hungarians but our European fellow citizens will also recognize the city of Pécs by these symbols and we would very much like to welcome them as our guests in our city. We would also like to make sure that all the scheduled developments are properly implemented so that they can raise the level of the cultural and artistic life of our city to a European standard. 2010 may grant us an opportunity to present our cultural achievements to the European public and bring everything over to our city and the region that can be brought over here within a period of one year. Anybody surfing on the Internet can find all the necessary information about our city and our work on this site. If you think our city appeals to you and if you are convinced by the concept of our application and the preparatory work that has been done by the citizens of Pécs, please do not hesitate to support us in our endeavour to become the Cultural Capital of Europe in 2010!