Mar/24

Vynohradiv – One of the Oldest Towns of Transcarpathia

No comments · Posted by Sergei Rzhevsky in Cities, Photos, Travel

Vynohradiv (until 1946 – Sevlush) is a small town with a population of about 25,000 people located in the southern part of Zakarpattia Oblast, about 94 km southeast of Uzhhorod. The distance to the border with Hungary is 16 km, Romania – 10 km, Slovakia – 80 km, Poland – 110 km. Vynohradiv is one of the oldest settlements in Transcarpathia. There was a Slavic settlement here already in the 9th century AD. Photos by: neo7777vitaha.

The monument to the winemaker in Vynohradiv. It was installed in the central square of the town, not far from the complex of buildings of the Franciscan monastery, in 2011. According to one legend, it was the Franciscans who were the first in the region to master winemaking. The monument depicts a man dressed in national Hungarian clothing and working at a wine press.

The town was first mentioned in 1262, when the Hungarian king Istvan V granted it the status of a free royal town. The very name “Sevlush”, which in translation from Hungarian means “grapes”, appeared in the 15th century.

The Franciscan Monastery – one of the oldest buildings in Vynohradiv, located in its very heart, not far from the central square. The complex of the monastery of Franciscan monks was built in Vynohradiv in the 15th century. It consisted and still consists of a church, a two-story building of cells attached to the church, and a monastery garden, parts of which have been preserved on the southern side of the monastery territory.

The church of the Franciscan Monastery.

The building with monastic cells.

In 1946, Sevlush was renamed Vynohradiv meaning “grapes” in Ukrainian. The town lives up to its name: viticulture has been developed here for a long time.

The Ascension Catholic Church (the 13th-15th centuries).

The Palace of Count Perenyi (the 14th-17th centuries) – an architectural monument of national importance, one of the oldest monuments of palace architecture in Ukraine.

Restored outbuilding.

Vynohradiv Secondary School #4.

Buildings on Shevchenko Street.

Myru Street.

The cafe-restaurant “Fountain”.

The building of the bank (1909).

Fountain “Silvika”, installed in 2012, for the 750th anniversary of Vynohradiv. The author of the project was Transcarpathian sculptor Mykhailo Kolodko, famous for his mini-sculptures in Uzhhorod, Mukachevo, and Budapest. There are several more of his sculptures in Vynohradiv. It is interesting that the fountain was ordered by a resident of Vynohradiv and depicts a local girl with whom he fell in love.