Ukraine · 16th century
The Uzhhorod Castle (Ukrainian: Ужгородський замок, romanized: Uzhhorodskyi zamok; Hungarian: Ungvári vár) is an extensive citadel on a hill in Uzhhorod, Ukraine. It was built in a mixture of architectural styles and materials between the 13th and 18th centuries and figured heavily in the history of Hungary. The very name of Uzhhorod/Ungvár refers to the castle, translating as "the Uzh castle".
The earliest stone buildings on the site of the castle may be dated to the 13th century. Charles I of Hungary gave the castle grounds to his Italian supporters from the Drugeth family. They erected a rectangular defensive structure with rhomboid bastions that recalled the castles of South Italy.
The fortification, augmented in the 16th and 17th centuries, underwent numerous sieges (the last one by Francis II Rákóczi in 1703-04) but was never taken. In the 18th century, it was modernised under the supervision of Lemaire, a military engineer from France.
As the male line of the Drugeth family died out in 1691, Kristina Drugeth, heiress to the vast Drugeth dominions, married Count Miklós Bercsényi, making him the third richest man in Hungary. Bercsényi, remembered as a key figure in Rákóczi's War of Independence, resided in the fortified palace within the castle. It was there that he treated with the ambassadors of Peter the Great and Louis XIV concerning the establishment of an anti-Habsburg alliance. In 1711, Bercsényi fled Hungary and his estates were confiscated to the Austrian crown.
As the need for a military stronghold in the area declined with the extension of the Habsburg dominions further to the east, Ungvár Castle was given over to the Ruthenian Greek-Catholic Church which opened a school there. In 1728 and 1879, fire ravaged the castle grounds.
Text adapted from “Uzhhorod Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Uzhhorod Castle ranks #1,329 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #25 of the 195 mapped in Ukraine. Founded 1598, it is older than 32% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 891 atlas entries founded in the 16th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 3,221 times in the last 60 days, more than 79% of the atlas. 3 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Uzhhorod, 1 km away. See how Ukraine compares in the castle statistics.
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