Episcopal Palace (Pécs)

The Episcopal Palace in Pécs is a historic building located on the western side of the Pécs cathedral, which was largely built during the 12th century. The last major reconstruction of the Episcopal Palace was carried out in the 19th century at the behest of Bishop János Scitovszky. The buildings grouped around the palace constitute the historic complex, which also includes the barbican. The medieval original visible forms were almost completely eliminated by later alterations. Apart from the floor plan system and the wall material, nothing else preserves its memory except the former gatehouse reinforced with a defensive tower and fragments of the Gothic window of the southeast tower.

History

The earliest record of the episcopal palace dates from 1015, and it is also mentioned during the fire of 1064 as having become a victim of the fire.

From the 12th century, the trapezoidal courtyard is enclosed by the north, east and south wings, and the building standing on the north side of the garden behind the palace, where at that time the chapel of the castle dedicated to Saint John stood. In the 14th century the palace was moved from the north side of the Pécs cathedral to the south side. Researchers consider that the large building wing built onto the southwest tower may have been the core of the palace. In the 15th century the palace was enriched with a gate and residential tower. In the Renaissance period the palace was significantly altered. At that time it gained another palace wing, which was built against the inner wall of the castle wall to the west of the tower.

The first large-scale reconstruction took place in the 18th century. In the first half of the century the courtyard’s western side was closed with an economic-purpose wing. In the second half of the century Bishop György Klimó fundamentally modernised the whole building. A second floor row was added above the northern and eastern wings and the southern wing was extended to the tower standing at the southwest corner of the inner castle. The façades also received a uniform Baroque appearance. The small windows were replaced with large stone windows. The library wing was built, and economic rooms were created.

The main façade facing the square is known from a 19th‑century engraving, which shows, besides the classicist Cathedral rebuilt by Mihály Pollack, the Baroque episcopal palace. The palace underwent its last major transformation in the 19th century. Between 1838 and 1852, on the order of Bishop János Scitovszky, part of the western wing was demolished together with its attached Renaissance free staircase, and the eastern façade was rebuilt in Neo‑Renaissance style.