Uzhhorod. The city is more than 1,100 years. It got its name from
the picturesque Uzh River
on whose banks it was built. Within the borders of the city three Slav
settlements were found and
investigated.
The Uzhgorod Castle (12th c.), a valuable architectural monument, was the
residence of Old Rus
Prince Laborets. The castle was repeatedly assaulted, especially during the
peasant uprisings in the
latter half of the 17th - early 18th cc. With time, it lost its strategic
importance. Now it houses the
Museum of Local Lore.
The Horiany Rotunda whose walls have preserved frescos on religious subjects
executed in
the 15th с. is a monument of architecture and painting of the 14th - 15th cc. No
less interesting
architectural monument is the Cathedral built in 1646 on Zamkova (Castle) Hill.
Local artists
executed its interior paintings.
Names of many famous people are associated with Uzhgorod: historian and writer
I. Pasteliy, linguist
M. Luchkai, poet and public figure O. Dukhnovych.
Berehove. Berehove was founded in the 11th с. by Hungarian feudal
lords. In the 12th с.
Saxon immigrants settled the territory of the city. They mined gold in the
mountains and grew
grapes. During its centuries-old history Berehove was repeatedly ruined by
Mongol-Tatars, Polish
troops, and regular feudal wars.
The Gothic Roman Catholic Church (1418) with a richly decorated bell tower has
survived to our
times. Once this bell tower was a watchtower, which is testified by a gallery
for a watchman under the
dome of the bell tower. The count's mansion (1629) is an interesting secular
structure.
The town has a dendrological park with 70 species of exotic trees. Berehove is a
centre of
winegrowing in the region.
Karpats'kyi reserve. Was created in 1968 on the area of 12,600 ha
for the preservation of
unique mountain landscapes of the Ukrainian Carpathians.
Eight individual massifs enter the Carpathian Biosphere Reserve which now
occupies an area of
57,880 ha.
The reserve is one of the largest scientific and ecological-educational centres
in the Carpathian
region and a natural laboratory for numerous national and foreign
scientific-research institutions. In
its territory a network of ecological, educational, scientific and cognitive
itineraries and information
centres was organised, here works Ukraine's single museum of ecology of
mountains and history
of nature management of the Carpathians. For outstanding achievements in the
preservation of natural, cultural and historical heritage the Council of Europe
awarded the Carpathian Biosphere Reserve the European diploma.
Mukacheve. The surrounding mountains have formed a giant natural amphitheatre turned to the medieval fortress which towers above a picturesque hill in the city outskirts. This fortress-castle is mentioned in historical documents of the early 14th с. under the name of Palanok. In 1633 Prince Rakoczy rebuilt the fortress into a knight's castle. At the end of the 17th с. the castle was again reconstructed, in the 18th с. it was turned into a prison, and in the 19th с. the castle was converted into the barracks. The Mukacheve castle is a valuable example of medieval fortification architecture. Not far off stands the white-stone Mukacheve Monastery whose first structures date from the 14th с. The monastery got its contemporary appearance in 1766-1772.
Rakhiv. Not far off the motor road Rakhiv - Uzhgorod, on the bank of the Tysa River a stele stands marking the geographical centre of Europe. The year of determination - 1887.
Synevyr, national park. The origin of the national park is inseparably connected with the mountain Lake Synevyr of unique beauty which is called the blue pearl of the Ukrainian Carpathians. To preserve this charming creation of nature a national park covering the area of 40,400 ha was created in 1989. The park has 94 species of rare and endangered plants. Thirty-eight species of flora and twenty-two of fauna are entered in The Red Book of Ukraine. In the Kvasovets' area, there is a mineral spring. Tourists are attracted by unique exemplars of wooden architecture, other cultural and historical monuments in the territory of the national park.
Uzhans'kyi national park. The park was created in 1999 on the area of 39,159.3 ha. Beech, hornbeam-beech and silver fir-beech forests predominate in its flora. On the upper boundary of the forest lies the belt of elfin alder woods. Almost 20 species of flora are entered in The Red Book of Ukraine. There are mineral springs in the territory of the park and interesting monuments of sacral wooden architecture, work tourist shelters, recreational centres, ski lodges, and a sanatorium.
Vynohradiv. In the early 10th с. the town was known under the name
of Uhocha, when the Uhocha Castle was built. The castle was destroyed many times.
Its ruins attract attention of tourists and historians even now.
One of the oldest monuments of the palace construction in the region is the
palace of Baron Pereni (14th c.) built in the olden park, a monument of
landscape gardening where many rare exotic trees are growing. In the centre of
the town stands the monument to B. Khmel'nyts'kyi. Vynohradiv (the town of
grapes) fully corresponds with its name, as vineyards cover the slopes of Chorna
Mount and numerous stepped terraces.
Oblast farmsteads