The siege of Pécs was fought from 14 to 22 October 1686, in the city of
Pécs
Pécs ( , ; ; Slovak language, Slovak: ''Päťkostolie''; also known by #Name, alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the fifth largest city in Hungary, on the slopes of the Mecsek mountains in the c ...
in southwestern
Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
, between the armies of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
and of the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
.
After the castle of
Buda
Buda (, ) is the part of Budapest, the capital city of Hungary, that lies on the western bank of the Danube. Historically, “Buda” referred only to the royal walled city on Castle Hill (), which was constructed by Béla IV between 1247 and ...
was wrested from Ottoman rule in 1686, the Austrian army advanced to capture
Pécs
Pécs ( , ; ; Slovak language, Slovak: ''Päťkostolie''; also known by #Name, alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the fifth largest city in Hungary, on the slopes of the Mecsek mountains in the c ...
which was defended by
Sarı Süleyman Pasha
Sarı Süleyman Pasha (; ; died 14 October 1687) was the grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire from 18 November 1685 to 18 September 1687.İsmail Hâmi Danişmend, Osmanlı Devlet Erkânı, Türkiye Yayınevi, İstanbul, 1971 (Turkish) He was exe ...
. The Austrian advance guard broke into the city and pillaged it, the Ottomans saw that they could not hold the city, so they burnt it and withdrew into the castle. The army led by Louis of Baden occupied the city on 14 October, and destroyed the
aqueduct leading to the castle. The Ottomans had no other choice but to surrender, which they did on 22 October. The siege devastated the previously prosperous region, and the area was depopulated by the peasants who fled from the Austrian soldiers.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pecs
Battles of the Great Turkish War
Sieges involving the Ottoman Empire
Sieges involving the Holy Roman Empire
Conflicts in 1686
1686 in Europe