Handover ceremony of the very first University in Hungary!
The lately renovated building of the first university in Hungary was handed over in the middle of March in Pécs. The renovation budget of the ruins took about half a billion forints. The medieval building located behind the basilica is open to the wide audience from the 21th of March.
The foundation charter of Hungary's first university, the Studium Generale in Pécs was signed by Pope Urban V. on the 1st of September, 1367. The specialty about the nearly 650-year-old University of Pécs was that it wasn't founded in a royal seat. At that time William from Koppenbach, bishop of Pécs secured the financial background, and thus won the support of King Louis the Great. Only Roman canon law and philosophy were taught at the medieval University of Pécs at that time - the theological faculty was not authorized by Pope Urban V.
The renovation of the medieval building founded in 1367 and destroyed in 1664 began in 1967, when the first Romanesque ruins of the university were explored next to the castle wall, in the bishop's garden behind the cathedral. Among others, researchers found Romanesque columns and statue fragments, as well as Gothic and Renaissance monuments and carvings; moreover, even the tomb of the maintainer, Bishop William from Koppenbach came to light. Although the restoration of the original building had been started after the excavation, the renovation process got stuck for a while due to temporary lack of financial funds until 2011.
The renovated building consists of a large room and several smaller ones. A protective building was designed above the classrooms of the medieval university, which will serve as an exhibition venue in the future.
The exhibition is about to bring visitors back in time and presents the late-medieval Pécs and the history of the Bishop Castle.. A visual time capsule of the academic life of the era, the exhibition displays the historical documents of the first university in Hungary, the original process of education as well as offering an overall insight into the Ottoman period of Pécs.
Dr. József Bódis, rector of the University pointed out in his welcome speech that the University of Pécs is planning to commemorate the founding of the former institution on the occasion of its 650th anniversary. Preparations for the festive series of celebration events for 2017 have already begun. Following the speech of the rector, Dr. Gábor L. Kovács, vice rector of the UP was awarded the academic prize named after Bishop William for his scientific results and work.