The hunting Shenbourne Palace is one of the brightest stars in the big constellation of attractions in Transcarpathia. A visit to the castle is a unique opportunity to live in a real fairy tale or just stay in it for a few hours. Since the middle of the last century the castle has become a health resort «Carpathians», and its doors are open to everyone.
Schönborn Castle is located not north of the modern center of the village in the picturesque valley of the Latorica River. Chinadievo owes the appearance of such an architectural gem to Count Schönborn, whose family owned the village from the beginning of the XVIII to the middle of the XX century.
At first, a small wooden hunting lodge stood on the place where today the palace rises majestically. Over time, it could no longer accommodate all the guests who came to hunt with the Schönborns. It was then decided to build a large palace to match the status of the high-ranking guests who came from all over the Austrian Empire.
The construction of the palace began in the middle of the 19th century and was completed in 1890. Several Western European architects, including Ferenc Bashinda, participated in the creation of this architectural masterpiece. During the construction an original architectural solution was used — the main concept of the building was compliance with «astronomical» orders: the palace has 365 windows according to the number of days in the year, 52 rooms and the same number of chimneys, which corresponds to the number of weeks in the year, and 12 entrances and exits to the street, which corresponds to the 12 months of the year.
In addition, the towers that rise above the palace were also symbolically made — there are four of them, and each denotes a certain time of the year. Every element and every detail in the palace decoration has its own meaning, for example, the small windows above the entrance doors are designed in the form of stained glass windows with biblical themes.
The Shenbourne Palace can be admired endlessly, looking at the numerous elements of decoration of its exterior, enjoying the overall beauty of the bright and colorful architectural picture that opens before the eyes. Romanticism with elements of Gothic — a harmonious combination of styles fascinates, excites the imagination and creates a unique feeling of touching the luxurious life that lived nobility. One of the most interesting details of the exterior design is the Schönborn family coat of arms with a lion with a cross and a crown, which adorns the clock tower with an antique chime clock that still measures the passage of time.
Real treasures have also been preserved in the interior of the castle: a large wooden staircase leading to the second floor, a fireplace room with a magnificent old fireplace and an unusual handmade chandelier decorated with deer antlers. It was here, in the fireplace hall that some scenes of the movie «17 Moments of Spring» were filmed. For connoisseurs and connoisseurs of beautiful architecture, a visit to the Schönborn Palace becomes a real aesthetic pleasure.
The palace itself is not the only thing that can enchant and forever remember those who visit it. The building is surrounded by a landscape park, which was established in the early XIX century and now occupies a huge territory of 19 hectares. A large artificial lake has been created in the park, with its outlines repeating the borders of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, where wild ducks and swans swim, and a mini zoo is organized on the lake shore. More than 50 species of rare, exotic and valuable trees, flowers, shrubs and plants grow here. The feeling of fairy-tale forest is strengthened by huge age-old trees, which are often several girths thick. The attractions of the park are the Spring of Beauty, which gives beauty and youth to all who wash and drink from it, as well as the rose garden.
What makes the Schönborn Palace in Chinadievo truly unique is the fact that you can not only come here for a tour, but also live surrounded by this architectural and natural beauty. Since 1946, the palace has been home to the Carpathian Sanatorium, and now it is easy to combine tourism with improved health.
Everyone who has been to the Shenbourne Palace speaks of it as a unique and memorable attraction of Ukraine, it is a fairy tale, which is not only preserved, but has not lost its amazing magic.