Sep/25

The Palace of the Counts of Shenborn in Zakarpattia Oblast

No comments · Posted by Sergei Rzhevsky in Architecture, Regions

The Schenborn (Schönborn) Palace, also known as the Beregvar Hunting Lodge, is the former residence and hunting lodge of the prominent Austro-Hungarian aristocratic dynasty of Schönborn, which included several high-ranking members of the Roman Catholic clergy. Representatives of this family were the largest landowners in Transcarpathia.

This architectural monument of national importance, which currently houses the sanatorium “Karpaty” (“Carpathians”), is located in the village of Karpaty, about 17 km north-east of Mukachevo in Zakarpattia Oblast. The Schenborn Palace on Google Maps. Photos by: Maxim Ritus.

In 1728, this land was seized from the rebellious Hungarian magnate Bercseny and transferred by Emperor Charles VI to the hereditary possession of Archbishop Lothar Franz Schönborn. The hunting lodge was built by Count Erwin Friedrich Schönborn-Buchheim in 1890-1895.

A magnificent arboretum garden (now the Karpaty Sanatorium Park) with a decorative lake in the center was laid out around the palace. Rare tree species were planted – boxwood, catalpa, Weymouth pine, Canadian spruce, Japanese cherry (sakura), pink beech, Italian clay; shrubs – deutsia, hydrangea, etc.

The palace was built in the spirit of romantic eclecticism, that is, it combines various medieval motives (Romanesque and Gothic). There is a legend that the Schenborn Palace has 366 windows (the number of days in a year, but the 366th window was bricked up and unbricked once every 4 years), 52 rooms (the number of weeks in a year) and 12 entrances (the number of months in a year).

The palace is decorated with rich decor (bas-reliefs, weather vanes, stained glass) on the theme of the family heraldry of the Counts of Schönborn; a tower clock with chimes is in operation.

A commemorative plaque (with an inscription in Hungarian) and two sculptural compositions – “Deer” and “She-bear with a bear cub” – are installed in the palace park. The outlines of the pond dug at the end of the 19th century (as planned by the park owner) conventionally reproduce the map of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The last owner of the palace was Count Georg-Erwein von Schönborn-Buchheim (1906-1989), who left Mukachevo in September 1944.

In 1945, the land and estates were nationalized, and the Schenborn Palace became the sanatorium “Karpaty”. Part of the palace interior (furniture, other valuables) was transferred to the funds of the Uzhhorod Museum of Local Lore.

Rest in this sanatorium is recommended for patients with cardiovascular and neurological diseases. Since 2010, a department of rehabilitation of musculoskeletal diseases and a department of treatment of the gastrointestinal tract have been organized here.