Chynadiievo. Castles, Churches and Other Landmarks

Two monuments of architecture and history in Chynadiievo, Mukachevo district, Sent-Miklosh Castle and the palace of Count Schonborn — two pearls of Zakarpattia.

Chynadiievo. The palace of Count Schonborn

I have seen these landmarks more than once. This time I came to look at the town's churches, also famous for their history.

The modern name Chynadiievo recalls that here the lords 'carried out deeds' (chynyly diiu) — reprisals against the peasants.

The coat of arms of Chynadiievo

Until 1944 the settlement was called Sent-Miklosh (Saint Nicholas), like the famous castle-fortress raised in the 14th century.

Chynadiievo. Sent-Miklosh Castle

The town stretches along the Latorytsia River, amid centuries-old beech and coniferous forests. Its main street bears the name of Avhustyn Voloshyn, president of Carpatho-Ukraine.

Chynadiievo. Avhustyn Voloshyn Street

In such a picturesque land, poets and artists cannot but be born. This small town has its own School of Arts, where young talents from all around study the craft of creativity. In summer it hosts a camp for gifted children from various regions of Ukraine, where they hone their skills and improve their health.

Another hub of culture, the former House of Culture and the 'Karpaty' cinema, went dark long ago.

On a wall decorated with ornament, a memorial plaque has survived, bearing the dates of the settlement's liberation from the Nazis in 1944.

The settlement's executive authority, serving a population of almost 7 thousand, is housed in a very small building.

The former Roman Catholic church has been rebuilt, but some of its features have survived — the elongated windows with stained glass.

Today the church, consecrated in honour of the prophet Elijah, belongs to the Greek Catholic community.

I did not manage to get inside, even though the notice board listed the elder's phone number, and I called to ask him to open the church. Unfortunately, the elder was away from the settlement and I could not see the logs bearing the not-made-by-hands image of a cross. I have already seen such a relic in Nelipyno, Svaliava district. In 2002 woodcutters could not saw through a 100-year-old beech; their saws kept breaking. And suddenly the tree split into two parts, opening like a book, on whose pages appeared images of dark-brown crosses of ideal proportions. There is still no scientific explanation for how the crosses arose, nor any confirmation of the hypothesis about a fungal formation. Yet people believe in the miraculous power of this incredible find, and they have handed out logs bearing crosses to various churches.

In the Church of St Nicholas you can also see fragments of log walls. Today the church is Orthodox, though earlier it was both Roman Catholic and Greek Catholic.

It was founded in the 14th to 15th centuries together with Sent-Miklosh Castle, from which it stands 150 metres away and with which it has an underground passage. In Soviet times, until 1990, the church housed a museum of antiquities. Regimes, authorities and owners changed, yet the stronghold and the shrine, though half-ruined, nevertheless survived. After restoration the church is open to the faithful. I do not like the imitation clock under the dome, because time does not stand still.

Between the two churches, by the road, stands the eleventh cross of Dzhublyk, part of the world's longest Way of the Cross, laid out in 2004 from Lviv to the place where the Holy Family appeared in Zakarpattia. Along this stretch 15 such crosses have been set up, symbolising the 15 stations of the Passion of Jesus.

By the cross stands a sculpture of the Mother of God.

Being right next to Sent-Miklosh Castle, I could not resist stepping onto its grounds, even though I had been to the castle before and know its history. But this time I noticed a monument under construction that I had not seen yet.

There were many young people at the construction site. They were setting up formwork and laying out the alleys for the future park. Potatoes were baking over the coals. I asked what kind of monument this was. The young artists told me a little, and then led me to the information centre, to the Master. I thought that was what they called the site foreman, the works superintendent. But out came the sculptor Yosyp Bartosh himself, who is working on the restoration of Sent-Miklosh Castle.

Chynadiievo. Sent-Miklosh. The Monument to the Sword

The author of this grand project told me that the raising of the Monument to the Sword is a tribute to the historical realities of the 15th to 18th centuries. On the four-sided pedestal there will be bas-reliefs of Countess Ilona Zrini, her son Prince Ferenc Rakoczi, the national hero, and Baron Pereni, the founder of the castle. Around the monument the park that already existed in the 18th century is being restored — it had been destroyed in Soviet times, when a military unit and warehouses were stationed in the castle. The work is being carried out by the 'Kalhan +' public association and with Bartosh's own money. He is helped by the pupils of that same Chynadiievo School of Arts.

Sightseers and tourists who have come to see the architectural monuments of Chynadiievo can have lunch at a cafe at 61 Voloshyn Street, 100 metres from Sent-Miklosh Castle. The building, decorated with a mosaic in the Socialist Realist style, was built in 1979.

A shop and a cafe

A memorial plaque about the construction of the building

The cafe.

You can reach Chynadiievo by scheduled buses heading toward Svaliava-Mukachevo or by suburban trains Lviv-Mukachevo, Stryi-Mukachevo, Lviv-Chop. To reach the Chynadiievo halt, you need to cross from Voloshyn Street to the parallel Zelena Street and follow it westward.

Zelena Street

Zelena Street. A wayside cross

Address: the settlement of Chynadiievo, Mukachevo district, Zakarpattia region.

Coordinates: 48°29’59 "N 22°49’1"E