AT A GLANCE
Why go?
Tucked inside Pécs's bustling Zsolnay Cultural Quarter, the Planetárium is a 'theatre of the sky': an eight-metre dome where astronomers project a crisp, live-narrated picture of the heavens and fly you across the universe. Cloudy or clear, midnight or broad daylight makes no difference – inside the cupola the stars are always out, and far brighter than anything the city's light pollution lets you see from the street.↗↗
Astronomy has deep roots in this city: Hungary's first optical planetarium opened in Pécs back in the 1970s, and today's rebuilt venue in the Zsolnay Quarter has been lauded as the first in Europe to run its high-resolution digital projector. It remains one of the region's most popular family attractions, staging hundreds of shows a year and welcoming more than 200,000 visitors since the modern hall began operating.↗↗↗
Under the eight-metre dome
The experience centres on an intimate domed auditorium, room for around fifty people, where a Digitarium projector paints the entire sky overhead. Because the venue was recently fitted with a brighter laser projector of higher resolution, the sweep through constellations, planets and galaxies looks strikingly realistic – a virtual spacecraft rather than a slide show. The shows are presented live by astronomers who narrate the journey as it happens, so it feels guided and personal rather than canned.