The once Roman Catholic and now Reformed St. Elizabeth’s Church is the second most famous attraction of Khust. Every guest of the ancient city strives to see it, often many tourists come here especially for this purpose. It is one of the oldest temples in Transcarpathia, preserved since the XIII century — its age today is more than 800 years.
The construction of the church began in the XIII century. At the foot of the castle mountain, where Khust Castle was built and fortified for centuries, it was also decided to build a reliable fortification. The best buildings at that time were stone ones, and stone was mainly used to build only fortresses, castles and temples. That’s why the inhabitants of the city, who wanted to protect themselves from the raids of cruel Tatars and other conquerors, decided to build not just a temple, but a mini-citadel, which would also provide shelter in case of danger.
Under the guidance of unknown architects, not only a beautiful temple in provincial Gothic style was erected, but at the same time a reliable shelter, surrounded on all sides by a high 6-meter high stone defensive wall. The church was lit in honor of St. Elizabeth, the mother of the prophet John the Baptist. It became the spiritual home of the inhabitants and rulers of the city — the latter often changed, but each of them paid tribute and constantly donated funds for the maintenance of the monastery. Perhaps that is why the church has survived from the depths of time.
Today The Church of St. Elizabeth can be seen as it was in the XV century, when the final shape of the church was formed. It is a rectangular one-nave church with lancet windows and an entrance arch in the south wall with a high bell tower adjoining from the west. However, it was not possible to fully preserve the high defense wall, irregular oval ringing the temple-citadel: in the XIX century, its northeastern part was demolished during the construction of a neighboring building, but, fortunately, its southwestern part has been fully preserved. Due to the fact that during the large-scale restoration in 2004-2005 the authentic features of the temple that were lost during the minor reconstruction in the XIX century were restored — the upper tier of the bell tower made of wood with a gallery, hipped roof and decorative lanterns, in the interior there are fragments of frescoes of the XV century, visiting the temple you can be transported back 5-6 centuries.
The powerful defense wall is a unique detail of the temple, the second in Transcarpathian region similar construction 
is preserved near the temple in Vyshkovo. The wooden bell tower with a gallery, pointing high into the sky and piercing it with its sharp spire in combination with this wall reflects the protective purpose of the building, which, along with the religious one, was originally attributed to the church.
St. Elizabeth’s Church was reformed in 1524, at the same time numerous frescoes that decorated the interiors of the church were lost — the Reformation provided for a more restrained approach to the decoration of the interiors and exteriors of churches and temples. Fragments of these frescoes were discovered under a layer of plaster a few years ago. One of the ancient frescoes depicts three kings of Hungary — Laszlo I, who founded the Khust Castle, Stefan and Imre. Any visitor of the city can see these ancient treasures today.
One can certainly speak about St. Elizabeth Church as a priceless attraction of Ukraine — it is a unique, beautiful and the oldest temple that preserves the memories of ancient times. A visit to this attraction of Zakarpattya will give the brightest emotions and leave the most pleasant memories.