Berehove architecture: beautiful landmarks

The cosy and enchanting town of Berehove is often called Little Hungary. And that is hardly surprising, for the proximity of the border with that country is felt here in everything. From the old Hungarian era, when Transcarpathia was part of Austria-Hungary, Berehove has preserved a unique architectural heritage. Berehove architecture truly astonishes with its unusual beauty and the diversity of its styles.

Berehove architecture: which landmarks are worth visiting?

The heart of Berehove is Lajos Kossuth Square, one of the most charming in the country. Above the small houses on Kossuth Square rises the so-called Berehove Louvre - the magnificent building of the former Palace of Justice, the royal court of Bereg County, built at the beginning of the 20th century in the Neo-Baroque style. After the Second World War it housed barracks, then a secret precision-mechanics factory, and today it is home to the Ferenc Rákóczi II Transcarpathian Hungarian Institute. Nearby stands the former masterpiece hotel «Royal», where students now live.

Not far away stands one of the oldest churches in Ukraine - the unique Roman Catholic Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on Ferenc Rákóczi II Square, built as early as the 11th century and later rebuilt in the Gothic style while retaining Romanesque elements. On the wall of the church you will see a sundial, and by the entrance stands a monument to the first Hungarian king, Stephen the Saint. Another sacred building in Berehove - the Reformed church of the 16th-17th centuries - is also located on Ferenc Rákóczi II Square. The highlight of this church is not only its architecture but also a musical instrument still in use today - an organ by the renowned Eggersdorf firm «Rieger». Near the centre stands a former synagogue, which today houses a cultural centre.

Berehove architecture is known for its twin houses, or the Meigesh and Kubovich palaces, which are striking examples of yet another Hungarian architectural style called Secession. As a subtype of Austrian modernism, this style was popular in the 19th-20th centuries and was distinguished by a blend of different textures, effects and floral decorative elements. The «twins» have two storeys and now contain apartments; they stand at the crossroads of Széchenyi and Tinódi streets. The buildings closely resemble each other and once belonged to the city’s chief architect, Shamuel Meigesh, and the lawyer Geiza Kubovich. Today, authentic Secession can be seen only in the Kubovich house - it has never once been reconstructed.

The bridge and the bank of the Verke canal

The stone, so-called «humpbacked» bridge over the Verke canal - a genuine adornment of the town. At first it was wooden, and it was along it that the three main trade routes ran: to Mukachevo, Vynohradiv and Vásárosnamény. Later the bridge was rebuilt in the Gothic style. Today it is its very «hump» that makes it unique - there are only a handful of such bridges in Europe. The architecture of Berehove is truly astonishing and enchanting!

And on the bank of the Verke canal you will see the Count’s Court in the fortified castle style. On the facade the inscription «Bethlen, 1629» has survived to this day. This is the former palace of the Prince of Transylvania and King of Hungary, Gábor Bethlen. Before the princely residence rose here, a Dominican monastery stood on this spot, which was destroyed by the Reformers. From the monastery era only the Gothic cellars have survived, where today the Berehove regional history museum operates, holding several thousand exhibits.

The Gentlemen’s Casino, or the «Golden Peacock», on the bank of the Verke canal - one of the most beautiful buildings in Berehove, a model of the unique Berehove Art Nouveau and Art Deco. The miniature peacocks and ornaments on the facade, the refinement and grace of the lines and semi-circular forms, the sumptuous antique interiors with frescoes and the marvellous interiors - it is hard to take your eyes off all this beauty. It was here that the town’s elite once gathered, where literary evenings, lavish aristocratic balls, ceremonial and charity receptions were held. Today the former casino houses the «Golden Peacock» restaurant and hotel

The capital of wine and thermal springs

Berehove is Ukraine’s capital of wine and winemaking. Every year an international wine festival is held here. This fragrant town even has a genuine wine chivalric Order of Saint Wenceslas! Berehove has many ancient wine cellars and vaults from the 17th-20th centuries, where colourful and unforgettable tastings of Transcarpathian wine are held. It is in Berehove that the Museum of Viticulture and Winemaking is located, set in the cellars of the Count’s Palace, which are over 700 years old. And paired with the delicious dishes of Hungarian cuisine the local wines come alive with new flavours and aromas.

The most famous highlight of Berehove is considered to be its hot thermal springs, rich in beneficial and healing macro- and microelements. You can bathe in the thermal waters of Berehove all year round, and the water in the local pools rejuvenates and revitalises the body, treating conditions of the musculoskeletal system, the cardiovascular and nervous systems.

You can learn about and see how the architecture of Berehove developed, taste incredible wine and the dishes of Hungarian cuisine, and bathe in the unique thermal springs on our excursion to Berehove, as well as during the SPA excursion to Kosyno.

The town lives on tourism all year round, so every year more people are looking to buy an apartment in Transcarpathia to rent out.