Khust Castle
Khust Castle
Carpathians, Khust
The Khust Castle is a fortification that existed in the 11th-18th centuries in Khust (now the Transcarpathian region, Ukraine). The castle was built as a Hungarian royal fortress to protect the salt route from Solotvyn and the border areas. Its construction began in 1090 and was completed under King Bela III in 1191.
A serpentine road led to the castle from the west, from the Khustets River. Halfway to the fortress, where a steep slope began on the southern part of the mountain, there was a watch house, the ruins of which are still visible. An underground corridor led from this house to the castle.
At the entrance to the outer castle there were large entrance gates, which were protected by rectangular towers on the right and left. These structures were connected by a narrow corridor, which served as a kind of trap, since if the enemy penetrated there, he could be subjected to intense shelling. Along the road that led to the gates of the inner castle, there were outbuildings. The tower above the entrance gate was the most fortified from the southwest, where the castle wall connected with the houses of the inner castle.
In front of the gates of the inner castle there was a deep ditch 8.5 m wide, through which a swing bridge led. The raised bridge blocked the passage between the outer and inner castle and closed the entrance gate to the inner castle. Immediately outside the gate on the south side were placed residential and administrative premises, barracks and a tavern. High keel-like towers rose above the gates on both sides, protecting the approach to them. In one of them, on the north side, there was a powder composition. The second gunpowder composition was located on the northwest side of the castle.
Platforms for guns were equipped on the walls of the inner castle. Near the tower, a well was dug in the rock, the depth of which reached 160 m. It provided the garrison with water during the siege.
The inner castle (citadel) could be defended even after the enemy took the outer castle. On the east side, the inner castle ended with two mighty bastions and a high keel-like tower. The northern part of the inner castle was defended by a square watchtower facing the headwaters of the Riki River. The winter quarters of the castle owners and commandant were located on the second floor of the inner castle, near the watchtower. The summer quarters were located on the south side of the castle. They had large windows through which one could see the Tisza River and the road that passed under the castle. In the southern part of the citadel there was a tower built in 1554 by order of the Austrian Emperor Ferdinand I and therefore bore his name. The upper part of the tower served as an arsenal, the middle part served as a chapel, and the lower part served as a powder warehouse.
The approach to the castle from the village of Boronyava was defended by the Bubnova tower with a spacious hall without windows. There was also a gunpowder store. On the second floor there was a bright hall of the castle chapel, and above - a warehouse with weapons.
In the northern part of the castle, near the gates, there were brick buildings with arches and narrow windows. These were barns and stables. The kitchen and several rooms were located near the Bubnova Tower. In this part of the castle there was also a barracks and a smithy. In front of a deep moat stood the castle bakery. Near it flowed a stream, always full of fresh water. The steep slopes of the Castle Hill made it impossible to storm the castle simultaneously from all sides. The castle served to protect the Hungarian possessions from the invasion of the Polovtsy, but was destroyed during the Mongol invasion of the Danube and then was rebuilt in 1318.
The royal garrison was located in the Khust castle, which was headed by the commandant of the fortress. Serfs, artisans, small merchants, who were dependent on the administration of the fortress, had to keep the castle in proper condition, supply food and handicrafts. In 1577 the Khust castle was significantly fortified, separate fortifications were built.
In 1594, the Tatar horde of Khan Giray attacked the Maramarosh zhupa, plundered it a lot, but could not take the castle. In 1660, the Turkish army invaded Maramaros and the Transylvanian prince Janos Kemen, with the support of the Austrian emperor Leopold I, who sent him a German garrison, fortified himself in the Khust castle. The fortress at that time was so fortified that the Turks did not dare to storm it, but sent a delegation for negotiations, which included the famous Turkish traveler Evliya Celebi, who left a description of the castle.
In 1677, the detachments of the Kuruts were led by Count Imre Tekeli, who made the Khust Castle one of the centers of the uprising. On May 9, 1687, due to the betrayal of the Maramaroš župan, Austrian troops were brought into the castle.
During the liberation war of the Hungarian people, the castle was occupied without a fight by the rebels. In 1706, a meeting of the nobility of Transylvania took place here, which proclaimed the independence of the principality and the deposition of the Habsburgs from the Hungarian throne. In 1711 the castle was occupied by Austrian troops. However, at that time the castle had already lost its strategic importance and the main forces were withdrawn from it in Kosice.
In 1717, the Crimean Tatars made their last attack on Transcarpathia. A 12,000-strong horde with huge booty and a crowd of thousands of slaves returned to the Crimea after an attack on the Danube lowland. The Tatars did not dare to attack the castle and, having passed the left bank of the Tisza, they tried to retreat to the Crimea without obstacles, but the garrison of the Khust castle itself made a sortie and defeated the Tatars near the village of Vyshkova. Then, in the Strimtura tract, the Tatars were defeated by the forces of the castle garrison and the people's militia, more than 6 thousand Tatars died in the battle, more than 7 thousand slaves were freed.
On July 3, 1766, during a thunderstorm, lightning struck the powder tower, an explosion of terrible force and a fire destroyed almost all the buildings. The damage was so severe that repair work was almost hopeless. The ruins became a source of cheap building material. In 1798, another thunderstorm knocked down the tower in the southeastern part of the castle, and in 1799 the eastern part of the castle was dismantled for the construction of a Catholic church and various state houses in Khust.
Unfortunately, today only ruins remain from the Khust castle, densely overgrown with tall grass and shrubs. But even looking at them, you realize the full power of this stronghold, standing on top of a high mountain, above the ancient city of Khust. From the platform, located near the walls of the castle, a wonderful panorama of the city and its surroundings opens up.
