The castle is located within the city of Khust, one of the westernmost border cities of Ukraine. The history of the fortress dates back to the early Middle Ages. Like most fortresses, the castle was primarily of military-strategic importance in protecting the territory from the penetration of uninvited guests.

In the 11th century, on the territory of what is now Transcarpathia, a huge salt deposit was discovered, called Solotvinskoe. From here salt was supplied to all the royal houses of Europe. The caravan route passed through the Khust Pass, in a narrow gorge of the Tisa River valley.

Timber rafting was carried out along this waterway. Especially a lot of valuable species of high-mountain Carpathian beech trees were rafted, which were highly valued by European royal houses.

Two main industries brought the Hungarian crown a significant part of the gold reserves, so the tract was of strategic importance. To protect it, a defensive complex was built in 1191.

The most serious test for the castle was the destructive invasion of the Tatar-Mongol army of Batu Khan. The structure was looted and burned, and the surrounding lands were devastated.

The fortification acquired a second life during the reign of the Hungarian king Bela IV. To populate the empty lands, he invited peasants and artisans from Italy and Germany. Life in the region is gradually reviving, and it is again bringing in considerable income.

In 1329, Khust became the Crown City, and Khust Castle again acquired key importance in protecting the salt route.

Almost two centuries of the castle's prosperity ended after the enslavement of Transcarpathia by the Ottoman Empire and several feudal wars and uprisings.

In the 16th century, the Hungarian nobility again took possession of the key city and fortified the castle. Its management is transferred from one ruler of the lands to another. After the transfer of the Transylvanian Principality to Austrian rule, extensive restoration work was carried out.

The stormy historical and military life of one ofcastles of Transcarpathia- Khustsky, an absurd accident stops. In 1766, during a thunderstorm, lightning struck the gunpowder warehouses, leading to many explosions that completely destroyed the castle buildings.

The Legend of Khust Castle

An ancient legend explains the names: River, Tisa, Khustets. It says that the commander in the fortress during the period of confrontation with the Tatar-Mongols was a talented warrior who could provide worthy resistance even to the well-trained troops of Batu.

During the siege of the fortress, the Tatars captured the governor’s wife Tisa and son Khustets. The wife was killed, and the son was able to return from captivity a few years later. He was hiding in the forest near Castle Hill, where he witnessed the attack of a terrible beast on beautiful girl. The young man saved the beauty. Seeing a birthmark on the guy’s shoulder, a girl named Reka recognized him as her brother.

While she was getting to the castle to tell her father, local residents They reported to the governor that a “Tatar” was hiding in the forest. The governor ordered the execution of the young man. And when he learned from his daughter that he had killed his own son, he could not survive the grief and plunged a sharp blade into his heart.

After the tragedy, River was unable to live in the castle and went into the dark thicket forever. Since then, in windy weather, her crying can be heard here, and the ghost of a woman in a white robe moves around the ruins of the castle in the dark...

How to get to Khust Castle

To see the ruins for yourself historical monument and feel its power, you need to get from Tyachiv, Mukachevo or Rakhiv by bus or minibus to Khust.

Option #1.By car you can drive along the Kyiv-Lviv-Uzhgorod highway to Mukachevo, and then turn at the sign for Khust.

Option #2.There are frequent trips from the bus station to Mukachevo shuttle buses via Khust. Check the schedule at the bus station.

Address: Khust, st. Castle

Castles of Khust

The castle was built as a Hungarian royal fortress to protect the salt route from Solotvyno, in particular the Khust gate, and border areas. Its construction began in 1090 and was completed under King Béla III in 1191.

On the outskirts of the city of Khust rises a mountain of volcanic origin, on which in the 11th-12th centuries. a castle-fortress was built. From 1281 to 1321 the stronghold belonged to the princes of the Galicia-Volyn state. In 1480, the Hungarian king Matthew Corvinus gave the castle to Queen Beatrice of Aragon. 1511 Laszlo II leased the Khust castle with all its estates for 20 thousand gold to the Ugochansky zupan Gabor Pereni. In 1669, the commandant of the castle, Mihai Katona, compiled an inventory of the fortress, which included 50 cannons, several tons of gunpowder, 3000 cannonballs in 3 warehouses. In 1709, the All-Transylvanian Diet of supporters of Prince Ferenc II Rakoczi was held in the castle.

In the XVI-XVII centuries. The Habsburgs and the princes of Semigorod often fought for Khust and its castle, and it was attacked by Turks and Tatars. The last military performance of the Khust garrison took place in 1717, when soldiers attacked a twelve-thousand-strong Tatar horde near Vyshkov.

The castle was destroyed by a lightning strike during a storm - one of them in 1766 hit the gunpowder warehouses. Zhupanat tried to save the castle and began repairs, but it turned out to be hopeless. In 1773, Empress Maria Theresa sent her son Joseph to inspect the castle. He ordered the transfer of the garrison to Mukachevo.

In 1798 a storm damaged the last tower of the castle. The authorities gave the local community permission to dismantle the castle into building stone. In 1799, the eastern wall of the castle was dismantled for the construction of a Catholic church and various official buildings in Khust.

A mountain with a height of 589 m was chosen as the site for the construction of the fortification. The mountain is located within the Gutinsky massif, southeast of the modern village of Vyshkovo, which once had the status of a city. The modern Ukrainian-Romanian border runs 3 kilometers south of the mountain, and the Tisa River flows 3 kilometers north. After the construction of the fortifications, the mountain began to be called “Varged” (Hungarian: Castle Hill).

The castle was first mentioned in written sources in 1281, when feudal lords from the Chepa clan built a castle on a mountain near Vyshkovo. On the one hand, this outpost was supposed to protect private feudal estates (at the end of the 13th - beginning of the 14th century there was a peak in the civil strife of the Hungarian feudal lords), on the other hand, it had more important tasks of national importance - the castle protected the salt mines of Maramoros and controlled the transportation of salt along the Tisza . Wyszkowski Castle was one of several “salt” castles built along the Tisza, which took part in the defense of the so-called “salt route”.

This path originated from the rich salt mines of Solotvyno and stretched to Central Hungary. The salt trade brought huge profits to Hungary, so ensuring the safety of the salt mines and the salt route was of low priority for the Kingdom of Hungary.

In 1329, King Charles Robert, who took the throne of Hungary in 1301, made great efforts to suppress the resistance of the feudal lords and increase the centralization of power. In 1329, Vyshkovo ceased to be a private fief and became a crown (royal) city. During the same period, the Maramoro Comitat (territorial-administrative unit of the Kingdom of Hungary) was formed, and Vyshkovo received the status of the center of this region.

There is a Khust castle in the west of Ukraine, in the Transkrpatya region. The first owner of the castle was a nobleman named Khust. His quiet life she was not in the castle for long. The year was 1241. The inhabitants of the castle knew nothing about the approach of Batu's hordes. Evening came. The guards were about to raise the bridge when the king's messenger flew into the castle on horseback and called on Khust to join the royal army, leaving in the castle only the guards necessary to protect it... The battle with the Tatars on the Shayo River was lost by the troops of the Hungarian king. However, Khust managed to escape. He was in a hurry home and did not know that the Tatars had tricked their way into the castle, plundered it and burned it, and taken his wife and son with them. Only the little daughter was saved. the boy soon lost his mother in captivity, and when he grew up, he ended up in the khan’s palace, where he met an old man who spoke the same language as his mother spoke to him. The old man told the young man a lot about the distant wonderful land, and when the young man grew up, they decided to flee to their native land. Almost 20 years have passed since the Tatar invasion. The Khust castle was restored again, and a small chapel was built on one of the ledges of the mountain... Khust ordered it to be built in memory of his wife and son. He swore that he would execute every Tatar who appeared on earth. Khust's daughter, meanwhile, turned into a beauty. One day she was resting near the chapel, when suddenly a horse neighed alarmingly. A predator was approaching them along a forest path. Suddenly a slender young man jumped out of the forest and with one blow of his dagger killed the beast that was chasing the girl. She was saved by none other than her own brother, who had just appeared in these parts with his friend. The old man, seeing his native mountains, died. The young man, having buried his friend, went to the castle. It was at this moment that the girl needed help. During the struggle, the beast tore off the young man's clothes and revealed a birthmark on his left shoulder. by him the girl recognized her brother, and they, shedding tears, froze in an embrace. Meanwhile, the castellan (manager) of the castle, secretly in love with the girl, arrived and saw her in the arms of a young man in Tatar clothes. Not remembering himself from jealousy, the castellan hastened to report the young man in Tatar clothes to the governor, the owner of the castle, knowing that he had vowed to kill every Tatar who appeared in the environs of the castle. The servants, by order of the kstelan, grabbed the young man, and, despite the girl’s crying and plea, they took him to a rock and cut off his head without waiting for the owner of the castle to arrive. The girl, in sobs turning into mad laughter, shows everyone the birthmark on the young man’s shoulder and accuses the father, who has already arrived, of executing his son. Khust falls down as if knocked down and, unable to get up on all fours, crawls towards the body of his son. In desperation, he grabs a dagger and pierces his heart. The distraught girl stands still for some time. terrible tragedy, then breaks down screaming and runs into the depths of the forest. but since then, every evening she returns here, to the mountain, named Red because of the innocently shed blood, so that at the place where her beloved brother and father are buried, she can cry inconsolably all night until dawn...

Khust Castle in the Transcarpathian city of Khust dates back to 1090, when its construction began by the Hungarian king Laszlo I the Saint in order to protect the region from Cuman invasions. As a result of numerous reconstructions and transformations, the fortress became so fortified that neither the Turks nor the Tatars, who raided the region, dared to storm it. Khust Castle went down in history as the legendary place of the declaration of independence of Transylvania.

Advantageous location

For construction fortified fortress They chose the best place - a 300-meter volcanic mountain towering above the valley. This mountain had a very advantageous geographical position. 1 km south of the castle mountain was the bed of the Tisa, an important trade artery of the region, and its tributaries, and a few kilometers to the west were the so-called “Khust Gates”. This is a narrow gorge, which was cut through the mountain ridge and gradually eroded in ancient times by the Tisza. As a result, a passage was formed in which both river and land trade routes converged at one point, and from the top of the castle mountain they were clearly visible.

In the same area, the paths leading from the Yablunevsky and Vyshkovsky passes through the Carpathians converged. In addition, 50 km from Khust in the Solotvino region, salt was mined back in the first centuries of our era, which means salt trade routes could be controlled from the castle mountain.

Khust Castle, as often happens, marked the beginning of the emergence city ​​of the same name. The first mention of Khust as a city that arose around the castle dates back to 1329. Then the Hungarian king Charles Robert awarded it and several other cities in the area the status of “royal” with corresponding privileges.

Fierce struggle for Khust and its stronghold

Having such an advantageous location, Khust Castle constantly found itself at the center of the struggle for power in the region. The first fortress, founded in 1090, was destroyed by the Mongols during their invasion of Hungary in 1318. Afterwards, the fortress was rebuilt, fortified and a royal garrison was stationed in it. In 1577, the castle was further strengthened by adding separate fortifications.

Mighty bastions, keel-like towers, a deep ditch with swing gates, underground corridors, ingenious traps that allowed the defenders to surround the enemy - all these and many other features of the construction of the Khust castle made it practically impregnable. Even the very location of the fortress on steep slopes made it impossible to storm it from all sides at the same time. The citadel, or inner castle, could be defended even after the capture of the outer castle; for this, in addition to the mighty bastions and towers, a 160-meter well was dug in the rock, which provided the garrison with water during sieges.

In 1594, the Tatar horde, which plundered the Marmarosh district, was unable to take the Khust castle. In 1660, the Turkish army invaded the region, and the Transylvanian prince Janos Kemen strengthened himself in Khust with the support of the Austrians. The Khust fortress was so fortified that the Turks did not dare to besiege it, sending a delegation for negotiations.

Later, from 1677 to 1687. The castle was owned by Imre Tekeli, a Transylvanian prince who led the Hungarians' anti-Habsburg uprising, but due to treason, Austrian troops occupied the stronghold. In 1703, Khust Castle was again taken possession of by the Transylvanian princes, namely Ferenc II Rakoczi, who gathered under his leadership an impressive army consisting of the nationalities living on Marmaros. Three years later, in 1706, representatives of the Transylvanian nobility gathered at Khust Castle. The independence of Transylvania was declared.

By 1711, the main forces of Khust Castle were withdrawn to Kosice, so it was occupied by Austrian troops. In 1717, the garrison of the stronghold accomplished its last feat. At that time, the Tatars made their last attack on Transcarpathia. A 12,000-strong horde with huge plunder and many slaves was returning to Crimea. Not daring to attack the castle, the Tatars passed along the left bank of the Tisza, but the garrison of the Khust stronghold made a sortie and, together with representatives of the people's militia, inflicted a crushing defeat on the Tatars, destroying more than half of the horde in the battle. More than 7 thousand slaves were freed as a result of this battle.

Bound by Lightning

By 1749, the governor's council in Khust decided that the Khust castle had finally lost its strategic importance. In 1766, a raging thunderstorm caused damage to the stronghold, which marked the beginning of its destruction. Lightning struck various buildings of the fortress several times, eventually starting a fire and exploding the powder magazine. The powerful explosion thoroughly damaged the buildings of the Upper Castle. After that, the fortress continued to collapse with each city.

At the end of the 18th century 19th centuries many cartographers, artists and travelers came to Khust to capture the remains of the powerful stronghold, so many diagrams and drawings have survived to this day. Nowadays, from time to time, only attempts are made to clear the ruins of green spaces.

Hungarian designer Zsolt Fodor created an amazing 3D projection of Khust Castle, which allowed us to look at the majestic stronghold in its heyday.

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One of the most famous castles in Ukraine, Khustsky, traces its history back to the dark 11th century. Despite the fact that today only ruins remain, the flow of tourists still does not dry up here. The reason for this is the long and rich history of the castle, the engineering layout of the structure, incredible by the standards of the Middle Ages, and a whole heap of finds so dear to the treasure hunter’s heart, including figurines of deities, coins and valuables. Among other things, Khust Castle is located in a picturesque region of Transcarpathia, and acquaintance with fortification science and practice can be successfully supplemented with eco-recreation, hiking, fishing and hunting.

A little history

The history of Khust Castle is as long and extensive as the history of some small European state. The construction of the first castle took place over a hundred years, in the 11th-12th centuries, under the Hungarian kings. The structure was intended to protect the salt routes from the attacks of nomads. In the 13th century, the first major destruction of the Khust castle by the Polovtsians took place, followed by restoration, which enriched the fortress with new fortifications. At the beginning of the 18th century, the castle played a decisive role in the declaration of independence of Transylvania, and a little later a garrison moved out from here for a major battle with the Crimean Tatars, which ended in the defeat of the latter. At the end of the 18th century, Khust Castle was destroyed by an explosion caused by lightning striking the powder tower, and its restoration became hopeless. Subsequently, the ruins of the castle were used as building material for administrative buildings in Khust and private houses.

What to see

Little remains of the Khust Castle - ruins of walls, parts of the foundation and traces of auxiliary buildings. In the citadel, the division into Lower and Upper castles (which could withstand an independent siege) is still visible. On the site of the Lower Castle you can see the ruins of the outer gate and parts of the defensive wall, as well as the remains of the transverse wall that divided the lower courtyard into two halves.

In the Upper Castle, the best preserved ruins are the western and eastern fortifications, as well as the remains of two defensive towers - the round Porokhovaya tower (which was struck by lightning in the 18th century) and the triangular tower called “Ferdinand”.

The internal territory of the Khust Castle, although not built up, is heavily overgrown with trees and bushes. Here you can simply walk, enjoying the views from the hill to the plains stretching at the foot and the city of Khust.

In addition to the Khust Castle, the city is worth seeing the Elizabethan Church, built in the 13th century by the Hungarians and which has been both Protestant and Catholic. Inside there are well-preserved frescoes, and in the church garden you can see memorial signs and monuments.

Practical information

The ruins of Khust Castle are open to the public, admission is free. From the city of Khust you can get to the ruins by taxi. It takes about half an hour to climb to the top of the castle mountain. Khust Castle - favorite place youth meetings, so for excursion purposes it is better to visit it during daylight hours.

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• Where to stay: those who can boast of health - to the right, that is, to ski resorts Carpathians, and those who can’t - go left - to the medical resorts. In general, in Ukrainian Carpathians It will be of interest to history buffs, nature lovers, and active recreation enthusiasts.