Classification of Transcarpathian castles

Researchers distinguish two types of fortresses:

1. The first one was intended to supervise the surrounding lands and collect tribute from them, as well as to constantly attack them. These are Mukachevo, Kvasiv, Bronetsky, Nevytsky castles.
2. The second type is a guardian castle of the territories under its control: Uzhhorod, Vynohradiv, Korolevsky, Chynadiyevo, Serednyansky.

There are also regular and irregular castles (used only during the war).

Sometimes the fortresses merged with the city in an architectural ensemble, such as Korolevsky, Uzhhorod, Vynohradiv, and sometimes they remained autonomous knightly fortifications, such as Kvasivsky and Bronetsky.

Until the XII century, all the fortresses in the Hungarian kingdom, which at that time included Transcarpathia, belonged only to the king. However, with the development of feudal relations, nobles received large landed estates as hereditary property. At the same time, there was a need to build castles to protect large land holdings. This is how administrative and territorial centres emerged, with a citadel in the middle of them that withstood the constant waves of endless strife.

All the fortresses and castles of the Sriberna Zemlya, except for Pidserednyansky and Chynadiyivka, were built on a hill. They have been rebuilt very often, and in each of them you can find traces of different eras. So you can trace the history of castle construction through them, as if in the context of different eras at the same time.

Famous castles of Transcarpathia

Carpathian castles on the map