The Transcarpathian Castles
The Schönborn Castle
The Transcarpathian castles have been built by different people in different times. If you start at “Solnce Karpat” and follow the Kyiv-Chop highway, the first castle you meet after a 15-minute drive would be the Schönborn Castle. The castle-palace of Count Schönborn has always piqued the interest of the European aristoi. The year 1890 – when it was built – is carved into every weather vane. In style, the architecture is similar to French Renaissance and follows the astronomical style, with its 365 windows – for days in a year, 12 entrances – for months, and 52 rooms – for weeks. The courtyard lake is reminiscent of the map of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in shape.
The Saint Miklosh Castle
Next on our way is the Saint Miklosh (St. Nicolas) castle in Chinadyyovo (26 km away from the cottages). This family castle was built by Baron Perenyi in the early 15th century. Eventually the castle passed over to the Austrian count Schoenborn von Buchheim, who made it into a luxurious palace. But the icing on the castle's history cake is the secret affair...
The Palanok castle
Close to the Mukachevo town (30km from us) you can see the Palanok castle settled on a mountain. Although there is no data as to when it was built, the earliest mentions date back to the 11th century. The castle's fate and history is connected to Fedir Koriatovych, who received it as a gift from the Hungarian king Sigizmund in 1396. Fyodor turned the castle into his own residence. He ordered a well to be dug, 85m deep and 2,5m wide – in case of long sieges. This well has a captivating legend to it...
The Uzhhorod Castle
The Uzhhorod Castle, which was first mentioned in the Hungarian chronicles of the IXth century (when the Ugrians were crossing the Carpathian passages). In 10-11th century the castle was under the Hungarian crown. The construction of the stone citadel began in 1248, after another Tatar-Mongol raid. In the beginning of the XIVth century it belongs to Pyotr Petenko, the Hungarian king's opponent and the leader of the anti-emperor rebels). The rebellion was unsuccessful, and two years later, in 1322, the castle was given to the French-Italian family of Drugeths. The Drugeth family were the owners of the castle for 300 years, in which the citadel was immensely fortified so that no one could seize it.
Every castle has secrets and legends of its own. One of them tells us about an unfortunate love.