This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/ukraine by /u/duellingislands on 2023-08-11 04:40:11.
🇺🇦 Слава Україні! 🇺🇦
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Another entry in our series on Ukrainian cities! Here are the other entries:
Kyiv I | Kyiv II | Kyiv III | Lviv I | Lviv II | Lviv III | Lviv IV | Lviv V | Lviv VI | Donetsk I | Donetsk II | Donetsk III | Enerhodar | Kharkiv I | Kharkiv II | Izyum | Zalishchyky | Kherson | Vorokhta | Zaporizhzhia I | Zaporizhzhia II | Zaporizhzhia III | Mariupol I | Mariupol II | Bakhmut I | Bakhmut II | Bukovel | Kreminna | Melitopol | Chernivtsi I | Chernivtsi II | Chernivtsi III | Kryvyi Rih | Kramatorsk | Turka | Poltava
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Uzhhorod
Uzhhorod
Uzhhorod is a beautiful city at the foot of the Carpathian mountains in the Zakarpattia region. Despite being the smallest regional center of Ukraine, it has a rich and ancient history, and it has a unique way of combining a romantic feel and heroic traditions with a restful aura for both body and soul. Quiet and measured, yet with many vibrant events and street fairs, it serves as a great jumping off point for trips to the Ukrainian Carpathians and for further adventures in the Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk regions… and, of course, beyond.
The city's name is related to the river Uzh, which flows in western Ukraine and Slovakia (and -horod is a common suffix that signifies a fortification) through the city. If you bring up Uzhhorod on a map, you’ll notice what is probably its most striking geographical feature pretty quickly: it stands at one of the more complex crossroads of European country borders. The city itself shares a border with Slovakia (at 0 km/0 miles), and nearby there are the borders of Poland (55 km/35 miles), Romania (84 km/52 miles) and Hungary (20km/13 miles).
Pedestrian bridge over the Uzh River
All in all, Uzhhorod impresses those who visit with its good food, small curvy streets, magnificent castle, and of course the allure of the mountains that beckon you to visit.
Side note for the folks who struggle with such an intimidating looking name - in English it is quite easy to pronounce: Oozh (sounding similar to ‘oosh’) and Horod. Uzh-horod. Ужгород.
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Growing Pains
Sneak peek of Uzhhorod Castle
Uzhhorod is well-known for its amazing history, which began many centuries ago on Zamkovya Hora (Castle Mountain) where the majestic Uzhhorod Castle stands proudly today. Since the castle has a lot of interesting features - and a cool dark legend - we’ll be writing about it in a separate post in our castles series early next week!
The oldest remains of the settlements found on the territory of the city are of course many thousands of years old. Throughout the ages, many tribes and peoples passed through the area: Huns, Avars, Burgundians, Dacians, Celts, and Sarmatians. It was the home of the Slavic tribe White Khorvatians since the first millennia of our era - this tribe is also known in English as the ‘White Croats’, who many academics (both Ukrainian and Croatian) believe were the Slavic peoples who settled in Croatia. I am working on researching this topic to make sure that Croatian scholarship is properly represented, but I can tell you as a sneak peek that there is a lot of very interesting historical affinity between Ukraine and Croatia.
In the 9th century, the White Khorvatians fortified their settlement on Zamkovya Hora as a part of the greater lands of Kyivan Rus, and it became the center of the newly formed Slavic principality headed by Prince Laborets. This is attested in the primary sources of several nations. In 894, a Hungarian force laid siege to the city and stormed the citadel in which Prince Laborets defended himself with his soldiers. The Uzhhorod forces were overwhelmed, and the prince and his army were defeated… Some sources from the past indicate that the prince was summarily hanged, while others stipulate that he was forcibly drowned in the nearby river which now bears his name… the Laborets, a tributary to the Uzh river.
And so it was in this way that the fortification and settlement itself was burned and Hungarians built a new one. This one, too, was burned in 1241-1242 - this time by Tatar-Mongol tribes under the leadership of Batu Khan.
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In Vino Veritas
An iron version of the coat of arms of Uzhhorod on the facade of a theater.
In 1318, the city received new owners - the Counts of Druget, who owned it for 360 years. This family is actually a little mysterious - there is scholarship that says they were originally a French lineage from Burgundy, who gained their power through intrigue in Italy and Hungary.
I’m not an expert on that family, however their link to Burgundy is quite interesting based on their activities in Uzhhorod as a seal of the city has been preserved from that time, and depicts a shield with two grape vines… this probably confirms what Uzhhorod’s inhabitants were mostly up to.
Even today, Uzhhorod is known for its production of wine (and brandy/cognac!). Its lasting industry is probably due to the incredible amount of minerals present in the Transcarpathian soil (you may remember from previous posts that this entire area...
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