Medieval castles - this is the part of history that always attracts the curious glances of travelers. Perhaps this is due to the halo of romance and codes of honor that were inherent in the nobles of the Middle Ages. No wonder the phrase “faithful knight” is still in use, which is used when talking about a man who is truly in love.
Today, only those magnificent structures in different countries recall the times and deeds of people who made history. Palanok Castle (Mukachevo) is one of them.
Transcarpathia
For many centuries, a people so unique and distinctive was formed beyond the Carpathian Mountains that its courage, patriotism and devotion to its faith became legendary.
The history of Transcarpathia is forever connected with the Slavs who appeared here and began to develop these lands in another 1 thousand n. e. As archaeological excavations show, these were immigrants from Volyn and Carpathian. The genetic spiritual connection, laid down even in the days of the formation of Kievan Rus and its formation as a great state, was able to save the Transcarpathian people from assimilation with cultures alien to it, under the influence of which it was for a long time.
Only 3 centuries - from 9 to 11 century. - Slavic princes ruled here and Orthodoxy reigned, but already from the 11th and 13th centuries these lands became part of the Kingdom of Great Hungary. In the future, up to the middle of the 20th century, Transcarpathia was a bargaining chip in many feuds and passed from one dynasty to another. From Hungary to the Principality of Galicia-Volyn, then to the Turks and the Habsburgs, the next owners were Austria-Hungary and Czechoslovakia, and only after the Second World War did these territories again belong to Ukraine, from which they had been torn for 10 centuries.
Today, tourists from all over the world come to the ancient Palanok castle (Mukachevo) to get acquainted with the history of one people's devotion to their origins, culture and faith.
Mukachevo
The exact date of the city's origin is unknown, but the first written mention of it is found in the annals for 896. Mukachev's location is so successful that the Slavs who founded the settlement were not the first to understand and apply this.
The settlement on the site of the current city was formed 40,000 years ago, in the Paleolithic era. Time passed, some tribes disappeared, their camps were covered with earth, but the following appeared at the same place. So, for example, here you can find evidence of the life of people of the Late Paleolithic era (3000 years ago), bronze (2000 years BC).
Equally diverse are the cultures represented here. A Thracian fortress was discovered on Mount Tupce (10th century BC), and a Celtic oppidum nearby, and archaeologists were even able to trace when the Celts were evicted by the Carp tribes, after whom the mountains were named.
No matter how the tribes BC succeeded each other, it is known for sure that Transcarpathia developed and grew along with the Slavic tribes, which in the 700s of the first millennium formed the great people of the Rus, whom the prince of Kiev ruled. This post, by the way, was an elective one, and the people as the prince put on the kingdom, so could remove him.
The first wooden defensive structure appeared here on Mount Zamkova in 1086. The real stone Mukachevo castle appeared only in the 14th century. Its construction began at the behest of Karl Robert - the Hungarian nobleman, who then had the fortress.
Today Mukachevo (Ukraine, Transcarpathian region) is a district center located fifty kilometers from Hungary and Slovakia and 100 km from the border with Romania and Poland.
Castle history
As it usually happens, there is no exact date for the construction of the castle, but the chronicles say that in 1086 he not only repelled the attack, but remained the only citadel that was not subjugated by the troops of the Polovtsian khan Kutesk. The letter for 1321 mentions that there is a commandant named Tomas in the fortress.
The following data for 1352 speaks of another commandant - Deja, who defeated the army of Khan Atlamosh. For 13 and 14 centuries, the fortress belonged to the Ugrian royal dynasty of Arpadovich and Anjou, but the real heyday and rebuilding of the fortress into a surprisingly beautiful and impregnable castle begins from the moment when it first appears.
The Mukachevo castle went to Fedor Koryatovich, a native of the old Lithuanian princely family Gediminas, for his services. He lost his possessions during the war, and Sigismund 1 in 1396 transferred him a fortress for life.
At that time, the structure was a square of walls with towers and a moat in front of them. Fedor Koryatovich built a castle on the top of the mountain, which became the residence of his family. Powerful towers up to 9 m in diameter with a wall thickness of 2.5 meters were built on the sides of the old wall.
In 1401, the castle was surrounded by a deep, dry moat, over which ten-meter defensive walls towered. A well was dug inside the castle so that its inhabitants could survive any siege and not suffer from thirst. Palanok Castle (Mukachevo) has been perfectly preserved to this day. He was not affected by the transitions from one royal dynasty to another, nor the First, nor the Second World War. In Soviet times, there was an agricultural technical school, thanks to which its halls and walls were maintained in good condition, and in 1960 a museum was opened in it.
Fedor Koryatovich
This prominent politician of his time and a native of an old noble family had a remarkable mind and strong character, however, some historians question the existence of his personality, since the originals of his credentials were never found.
Several copies of the surviving documents indicate that the Palanok castle (Mukachevo) was indeed handed over to Fyodor Koryatovich for life along with the city and the land adjoining it until Khust. Whatever it was, but it was with his light hand that a grandiose construction appeared on Castle Hill, for the sake of which thousands of people now come to Transcarpathia.
In addition to the castle, Fedor Koryatovich built a library and erected a monastery in which he was buried after death. Thanks to him, the city of Mukachevo became the cultural and religious center of the region. Today the grave of the nobleman cannot be found, but it is known that as early as the 19th century, when a stone church was built instead of a wooden one, his tombstone was whole. Where it happened later is unknown.
Now it is reminded of a monument in the courtyard of the castle, which already has its own legend.
Castle description
During the time that Fyodor Koryatovich spent in Transcarpathia, Mukachevo Castle (address: Kurutsev lane, 5) acquired the form that we see today.
Nobles were built:
- upper castle;
- middle and lower locks;
- defensive wall with a moat.
For construction, her former Minister of Defense and part-time connoisseur of fortifications Sebastian de Vauban arrived from France, who developed a defensive system of the castle that made it impregnable. In some parts of the fortress, the walls reached 18 meters of thickness, which made it easy to withstand shelling with existing guns at that time.
In total, he had 4 terraces, which were distributed on the Gateway, Lower, Middle and Upper Castle. Each level was higher than the other and was an independent defensive unit, therefore, if the lower tiers fell, the defenders could take refuge at the top and survive the siege.
In the 14th century, as now, it was possible to get to Palanok Castle (Mukachevo, working hours from 9.00 to 18.00, closed on weekdays) only via a wooden bridge over the moat, only at that time it was filled with water and a picket fence - thanks to which he got his name.
The first large courtyard housed the barracks. Moreover, they also had tiers - the higher they are, the greater the reward received by the military, who served there. One of the most amazing constructions of the Upper Castle is the 75-meter well, which was pierced right in the mountain to the Latorica River. Depending on the level of its waters, the contents of the well flowed over the edge, then went far down, and had to pull life-giving moisture from the depths. But this saved the inhabitants during the siege of the fortress, one of which lasted more than 3 years.
Ilona Zrini
At one time, the castle belonged to the ancient Transylvanian family of Rakoczy, descended from Vlad 3 of Dracula. Their dynasty ruled here for over 100 years. At one time, it was they who gave refuge to the Transcarpathian Slavs, who did not want to accept the culture and religion of the Turkish invaders. Such people were called Karutsu, and representatives of the ancient family led them.
Ilona Zrini became a legend during her lifetime. The widow of Ferenc Rakoczi led the defense of the castle during the siege of the Habsburg troops and lasted 3 years. She was famous for her extraordinary beauty. There is even a legend that on the eve of the next enemy assault, the lady went to the fortress walls to look at the size of the army under her walls. At that moment, an Austrian general saw her, preparing fighters for an attack. Amazed by the beautiful appearance of the woman, he deployed an army and said that he was used to fighting soldiers, but he would not fight with beauty.
If not for the betrayal of the inner environment of Ilona, who had poisoned the water in the well, this fortress would never have surrendered. Today, a monument erected in the castle recalls this great woman. She stands with her son against the fortress wall, and the young head of the dynasty holds a saber in his hand.
This is a symbol of the fact that he did not bow to the Habsburg family and continued the work of his father and mother. This is how Palanok Castle and its mistress stand. In Mukachevo, therefore, in the 19th century a monument was erected to a woman who created history and led the revolution. She died in 1703, and her remains rest in Kosice (Slovakia).
Castle legends
Sights of Ukraine can boast of beauty and antiquity, but perhaps there are nowhere so many legends as in Palanok Castle.
Here, modern superstitions echo those that have been around for centuries. For example, digging a well in a rock gave birth to such a story among those who have a sense of humor.
The men are digging a well, they are digging a day, two, ten, but there is still no water. The prince every day angrily asks: "Where is the water ?!" And each time they answer him: “No.” I heard the devil about it and decided to earn extra money. He came to the prince and said that for a bag of gold he would make sure that there was always water in the well. What to do? The prince agreed, the devil conjured, the men dug up, and water appeared.
Unclean came for the award, and the prince hands him a small bag of gold and says that they did not agree on the size. It is clear that a long digging and a good sense of humor of local residents have created history for centuries.
Well, today Palanok Castle in Mukachevo is a legend for the sake of which people come here who have treasured desires. Who was the first to decide that the monument to Fedor Koryatovich specifically points a finger at the ground, as if claiming to be planned here - we don’t know about, but even today, thousands of people grab onto it like a straw.
Interestingly, many of them claim that their desire really came true within a year. Maybe it works the belief in a miracle, or just after a person held onto a noble finger and, closing his eyes, made a wish, he finally began to take some steps to implement it.
Be that as it may, a miracle works. There is a suspicion that the legend was launched by the lazy students of the agricultural technical school located once in these walls. They held on to a finger, pulled out the only ticket that they knew, and now the millionth tourist grabs it and whispers something intimate.
Castle in the 20th century
Since Transcarpathia belonged to the Czech Republic at the beginning of the 20th century, and then to Hungary (flesh until the end of World War II), it remained intact, albeit under the supervision of others. In the 50s, a technical school settled here, and its students lived in the former barracks.
Only in 1989 a museum was organized within its walls. Today it is another pearl in the necklace of the sights of Western Ukraine and Transcarpathia. Therefore, it is not surprising that many tourists who come to these parts are primarily interested in the fortress, which Mukachevo (the castle of Palanok) is so proud of. The entry price is a little more than 35 rubles., The tour will cost 300 rubles. per person.
Where it was necessary, restoration work was carried out, so a grandiose monument of history and architecture looks the same as in the days of Fedor Koryatovich. It is included in the list of “Most visited sights of Ukraine”, and this is well deserved. Everything here literally breathes history, so there are no off-season periods in the castle.
This is also the most favorite place for newlyweds arranging wedding photo shoots. They are especially frequent from spring to October.
Museums and Attractions
Today, halls are open here with an exhibition of paintings and sculptures, musicians play on weekends, a collection of household items and culture of Transcarpathian residents is widely represented from the 12th to the 20th century. In one of the halls, guests are awaited by icons of 16-19 centuries. Concerts and festivals are often held here, the guests of the castle themselves can participate in them.
If someone is tired of impressions, you can relax and have a bite to eat in a cafe, and to make the colors of the day brighter, you can go down to the gloomy cellars of the castle, where tasting rooms are now located, and taste the wines of the Chizay brand.
In Palanok Castle, you can do without a guide, but it will be just a walk along its silent corridors and halls. It is people who are in love with these walls that revive them with stories about those who lived here and composed such wonderful legends.
The view from the ramparts is another opportunity to enjoy the local beauties that should not be missed. The castle looks very impressive at night.
Castle Tours
A tour to Transcarpathia is a very popular route, as there is everything here:
- the mountains;
- rivers;
- numerous attractions;
- fresh air;
- hospitable people;
- tasty and healthy local cuisine;
- various events in which you can participate along the way;
- big and beautiful, and most importantly - a real castle.
The prices for such tours are quite reasonable, which is probably why tours take place here year-round and devote travelers to the secrets and legends of the city of Mukachev and its castle. Each visitor to the city will surely throw a coin in a well-offended line in the well and make a wish to return here again. On this occasion, the locals even have a joke, and they will be happy to tell it for the millionth time, you just have to ask.