People First

Pécs boasts many exciting sights, but certainly one of the most interesting are the Early Christian burial chambers, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Hungary's most important Early Christian cemetery complex is left over from Sopianae, the Roman predecessor of Pécs. The hundreds of known tombs, numerous burial chambers, funerary chapels and 4 major tomb buildings are evidence of a former religious centre. The late Roman cemetery monuments, which lie under the Cathedral Square, are brought together in a single complex by the Cella Septichora Visitor Centre. The Visitor Centre contains a total of 6 two-storey tombs and two larger buildings. Not all of the sites are accessible (such as the mausoleum and the monuments on Apáca Street), but 90% of the central Visitor Centre is accessible in this way.

First of all, we need to clarify what a Cella Septichora is, because you don't hear much about it anywhere else in the world. The name means "Chapel of the Seven Chariots" and is one of the most important monuments of the early Christian cemetery of Sopianae. It is an elongated octagonal structure with apse niches, or semicircular niches, on seven sides (the eighth has the entrance). Hence the name.

A part of the pre-Roman predecessor of the city of Pécs, the Early Christian cemetery of Sopianae, was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2000. It deserves this status because the architecture and wall paintings of the excavated complex are extremely varied and illustrate the architecture and art of early Christian burial in the Roman Empire. Some of the numerous brick tombs and burial chambers are painted, and their interiors are decorated with biblical scenes and symbols. The Cella Septichora is a completely unique solution, so many apse buildings are rare. The Cella Septichora was not completed in the Roman period, so its final function is uncertain. It may have been intended as a burial place or even a funerary basilica.

The building was first discovered in 1927, but was only partially excavated in 1938-40. A full archaeological excavation took place in 2005-2006. The Cella Septichora Visitor Centre opened in 2007. As an interesting feature, a large and several smaller transparent glass roofs allow a glimpse of the archaeological treasures from the surface. And from the inside, you can see people walking around the square above your head.
Over the years, the building has deteriorated, and a major renovation was carried out in 2023. This mainly involved the building's mechanical systems and the installation of some really exciting interactive equipment, but unfortunately accessibility was not improved. Despite this, we have visited it several times in wheelchairs, most recently in May 2024 following the refurbishment.

The entrance is barrier-free, with a long, gently sloping ramp to the reception. Access to the reception is directly through a glass door, which does not open automatically. Just before the glass door, right next to the entrance, there is a toilet for everyone, which is completely barrier-free.
A mobile induction loop is available at the reception for the hearing impaired, while an audio guide explaining the sites in Hungarian and English can help the visually impaired. There are no tactile signs. And the visual guide function in 6 languages provides additional information for everyone with pictures, 3D reconstructions and games.
Disabled people and their accompanying persons can buy a discounted ticket, which was 800 HUF/person in May 2024.

We start in the large, seven-sided chapel, where the fragments of earth left on the walls give us a sense of how these walls have always been in the ground. Here, a multilingual video tells the story of the Roman Empire, Sopianae and the tombs. Above us, the glass roof offers a very special experience. The area is completely barrier-free, but the access ramp is uphill and downhill, with manual wheelchair assistance required.

From here, we were able to get to all the other sites in wheelchairs, except the Korsós tomb, which is not wheelchair accessible. Sometimes we encounter small slopes that need assistance. Accessibility is assisted by lifts in two places and stairways in one. The lifts can be operated independently, but it is worth remembering to keep pressing the button. Once the lift has reached the level, release the button to open the door. The buttons inside the lift must also be pressed continuously. If assistance is needed, a helper can get into the lifts, which are otherwise wheelchair-sized. The lift buttons have Braille writing on them, but no audo announcements.
We have not found any other written information in Braille.

The stairway system is operated by helpful, friendly staff at reception. We feel it would be worthwhile to provide them with regular awareness training on how to operate the accessible equipment. As a visitor, it is also important to know that to operate the stairway device, the assistant must constantly press the remote control button and direct it to the device's sensor. The stairway itself is slow moving and sometimes breaks down, so it should definitely be replaced with a more modern version in the near future.
With an electric wheelchair, it is important to know that the stairway structure can support 190 kg.

The exciting underground walk definitely requires assistance with a manual wheelchair and for visually impaired person, as there are occasional small climbs on the otherwise easy-to-walk, smooth metal ramps. With an electric chair, this is not a problem. As visually impaired people be aware that the walking surface is a perforated metal grid, so the cane can get stuck.

Among the exciting interactive experiences, you can even dress up in period costume for the selfie point. Unfortunately, the camera is set too high to take a photo of yourself from a wheelchair. The situation is similar with the info columns, you can't see the text from a wheelchair (or as a child), they are too high up and the monitor is tilted at an angle. The problem has been reported to the management.

Website:
on the website, click on the top right 3 bars in the "Information" menu and you will find a submenu "Accessibility information". Here you will find further information about the accessibility of the venue and ticket prices in 6 languages: https://www.vilagoroksegpecs.hu/en
As a visually impaired person, it is fully clear, legible and accessible. Unfortunately, the images are not accompanied by any text or description on this website either, so they are invisible to the visually impaired.

Getting there:
by bus, you have to get off at the Árkád shopping centre. From there it is a slight uphill walk up Irgalmasok Street to Széchenyi Square. In a wheelchair the pavement of the square is slightly slippery. For the visually impaired, tactile signs from Irgalmasok Street will help. Watch out, because the restaurant terraces on Széchenyi tér are partly on the tactile signs on the right! From Széchenyi Square, take Janus Pannonius Street to Szent István Square, where the entrance to the Cella Septichora Visitor Centre is located in front of the Cathedral and the Kiosk.
From the Main Railway Station, take buses 30 and 130 and get off at Kodály Zoltán Street, from here it is a 3-minute walk to Szent István Square.

by car, the nearest barrier-free parking is at the corner of Széchenyi Square and Janus Pannonius Street, at the Nagy Lajos high school. A few meters further on, on the other side of the square, there are 2 more accessible parking spaces in front of and next to the courthouse.