Pécs and Mohács National Memorial

In between smelly days, I mean spa days, I thankfully got some fresh air on my outings with the Oldies. No stay in Harkány would be complete without a trip to wonderful Pécs. It was fun to revisit some familiar sights and be reminded why we all like this city so much. And once again, I got a chance to cool down in the famous Zsolnay fountain.

On that note, we finally got to visit some of the museums in the wonderful Zsolnay Cultural Quarter, including the Golden Age of Zsolnay Exhibition in the original factory owners’ villa. I’ve said before that Zsolnay ceramics are not quite my cup of tea, but after seeing this exhibition, I’ve started to change my mind about that. In fact, it was worth going just for the tiles on the main staircase alone. As for the Oldies, the Art Nouveau and Art Deco collections had the eyes popping out of their heads.

The more I see of the unique Zsolnay ‘eosin’ technique – that iridescent, metallic finish which no other ceramics manufacturer has ever been able to replicate – the more I like it. Perhaps because it reminds me of the shimmering of a fish just below the surface of the water the moment before you pounce on it. It looks good enough to eat!

I also got to watch the actual manufacturing process at the ‘Live Manufacturing’ exhibition. This is an incredibly complex procedure, involving umpteen stages of modelling, firing and decorating by hand. It was all way over my head but seriously impressive all the same. I’ve often felt you poor humans are dreadfully disadvantaged, not having wings. But I have to say that what some of you manage to create with those hands of yours is not bad. Not bad at all.

We were enthralled as we watched the finishing touches being put to one large bowl, and the Oldies asked the artist how long it took to make. I was beak-smacked when I heard that it had taken 30 days. I wouldn’t give you a thank you for it, mind, but you have to say that a huge amount of skill and meticulous work goes into each piece. The prices looked huge too. Well, especially since they were in Forints. There were certainly a whole load of zeros at the end of them!

On another break from the spa we visited Mohács, a sleepy little town on the Danube. I was happily watching the ferries coming in to dock, thinking what a peaceful place this is, when the Oldies mentioned that one of the bloodiest battles in history had taken place in nearby Sátorhely.

I found that hard to believe, but the sheer scale of the Mohács National Memorial, so incongruous in the middle of this rural landscape, certainly indicates that this was quite an event. It commemorates the site of the famous battle between the Ottoman and Hungarian armies, where, in the space of just a few hours on 29th August 1526, an estimated 18,000 men lost their lives. That just blew my tiny little bird mind!

The memorial, opened in 2011, includes a large circular building with a museum in the basement. I was quite freaked out by the display of suits of armour, weapons and other artefacts found on site. Scary! But that was nothing to the video outlining the progress of the short but devastating battle. The Hungarians were outnumbered by the Turks by as many as five to one, and with the Turks better trained, more up-to-date and with far superior weapons and artillery into the bargain, the Hungarian army and its supporters were completely massacred.

Upstairs, there were displays explaining the history of the archaeological digs that unearthed several of the mass graves. It cannot have been an easy task to locate these graves, especially as many of the villages named in the documents of the time no longer exist. I have to admire the archaeologists who worked on this dig. Basically, they seem to be a cross between historians, detectives and forensic scientists. And they are certainly not afraid to get their hands dirty!

I had a dose of gull bumps when we finally stepped outside. This is more than a memorial, it is an actual grave, with two of the mass graves incorporated into the beautifully landscaped area over the ancient battlefield.

Maybe it’s because I am a wooden seagull, but even after visiting the museum, seeing all the artefacts and learning about the archaeological digs, there was one thing that truly brought this horrific episode in Hungarian history home to me. The wooden markers on the spots where the fallen soldiers, knights and nobles, and especially the poor horses who were unwitting pawns in the whole nasty business of war, had been found.

On those spots, almost 500 years after the event, it felt to me as if the battle had only just taken place, right beneath my feet.