Mukachevo

This morning I went into Uzhgorod, and took the bus to Mukachevo. Mukachevo is 22 miles from Uzhgorod, and the cost of the ticket was only 17 hrivna ($1.30 USD). Since I was at the Palinok Castle in Mukachevo last year, I didn't bother to visit again. I stayed mostly in the city center.

Palinok Castle:

The city center:

Many of the buildings have interesting architectural details and flourishes:

There are a number of monuments and statues:

Below, a memorial to those who died during Stalin's Terror:

The plaques below tell the history of Palinok Castle, and Mukachevo:

Castle construction

From 1396 to 1414, Mukachevo property of and ruled by Feodor Koriatovich, formerly Grand Duke of Chernigov and ruler of Podolia. Koriatovich is portrayed as a "St. George" type figure, killing a dragon.

Below, Ilona Zrini, the widow of Ference Rakozi, rebellious ruler of Mukachevo who was beheaded by the Hapsburgs, led 2500 palace troops in holding of  a 3 year siege of Palinok Castle by the Hapsburgs.

In 1703, Ference Rakozi II, son of Ilona Zrini, retakes the castle, and holds it until 1711.

Mukachevo becomes property of Count Schoenborn, and a prosperous trading center.

One of the most interesting monuments in Mukachevo is the Monument to Chimneysweeps, depicted with all of his tools, and with his helper - a cat.

There must have been some festival going on in Mukachevo today; there were hundreds of stalls lining the streets, selling flowers and floral arrangements. Other stalls sold woven baskets, jars of honey, wool knit stockings and slippers, and embroidered shirts.

I also found a huge food market in Mukachevo. Klara later told me that prices are about 20% cheaper in Mukachevo than in Uzhgorod. 

These carrots are ten times the size of any I've seen in America.

Various dried beans, sold in bulk.

I've never seen grapes like these before. Instead of being round, they're long and oblong.

Piles of fresh paprika. At other stalls, I saw what must have been a selection of more than 50 different spices, in bulk, and the shopkeeper would personally blend the spices for you.

Fresh cheeses.

Quail eggs!

There must have been twenty or thirty butcher shops, selling fresh meat. Price for ground beef/pork mixture averaged about $1.40 USD per pound.

Below is the former palace of Ference Rakozi II. Today, it is used as a school.

As you can see from this photo of a doorway, the walls of the palace were about three feet thick.

Nearby is the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God.

I'm not sure what this block of wood is; I think that it is some kind of relic from a fire - I can see crosses burnt into it.

From here I took a taxi to the St. Nicholas Monastery, a Basilian order Convent on Mt. Chernecha. The Monastery was founded in the late 14th Century by Feodor Koriatovich. 

At the Monastery, up on the mountain, it is very peaceful and quiet. The only thing you can hear is the Latorice River below.

Below, a residential street in Mukachevo:

One of the parks in Mukachevo. I saw several old tree stumps which had to be at least a dozen feet in circumference. 

The sports complex:

I'm thinking about going on another excursion tomorrow, and trying to decide where to go. Karpaty? to see the Schoenborn hunting lodge? The wooden church near Svalyava? Irshava? Khust? Maybe Lisicheve, up in the mountains, to see "Hamor", the water driven iron forge hammer???