Unconventional History Lesson in the Cella Septichora
On Wednesday, January 22, the Pécs Group 3 participated in a truly special history lesson. We weren’t sitting in school desks; instead, we went beneath Cathedral Square into the Cella Septichora, where we learned about the ancient past of Pécs through a museum education session.
With the help of museum educator Diána Hermann, we gained insight into the secrets of the late Roman, Early Christian cemetery of Sopianae. We learned that Sopianae was the Roman-era name for Pécs, and that it is home to a cemetery that is now a World Heritage site. In the Cella Septichora Visitor Center, we saw many unique graves and burial structures that are over a thousand and a half years old.
It was very interesting to hear that stone burial places were rarely built in other Roman provinces, yet plenty of them have survived in Pécs. These included smaller family burial chambers as well as larger communal vaults. We liked the ones with walls decorated with paintings the most. We saw biblical scenes and Early Christian symbols, and we learned that these are not only beautiful but also reveal a lot about the faith and thinking of the people of that time.
We also learned that the burial chambers were generally the burial places of wealthier families. These were two-story structures: the crypt was below, where the deceased were placed in brick graves or, more rarely, in sarcophagi, and a memorial chapel stood above. These were used not only for burials but also for holding ceremonies.
During the session, we heard not only about burial customs but also about the everyday life of late Roman Sopianae. We understood that cemeteries are important to archaeologists because they reveal so much about the society of the time and the people living there, whether they were pagans or Christians.
At the end of the program, we reviewed everything we had learned with a board game. We had to recall knowledge related to the World Heritage site and Roman-era Pécs according to the rules of “Activity,” which was very entertaining.
We all felt that we learned many new things and now better understand why it is important to preserve the World Heritage of Pécs. After all, we can only truly protect and appreciate what we know and what belongs to us. We returned home from this unconventional history lesson with plenty of new experiences and knowledge. Pécs Group 3
Snapshots of the museum education session can be viewed in the Gallery.