The small Transcarpathian town of Vinogradov has sights that impress and charm all tourists who visit them. Among them is Franciscan Monastery — one of the oldest buildings of the city, located in the heart of the town near the central square. The dilapidated buildings, whose walls breathe antiquity, and the place itself take you back to the Middle Ages, inspiring and mesmerizing with its beauty.
The monastery complex of the Franciscan monks, who preached poverty, comprehensive love for neighbors and asceticism, was built in Vinohradov in the XV century. It consisted and still consists of a church, a two-story building of cells attached to the church, and a monastery garden, fragments of which have been preserved on the southern side of the monastery grounds.
The earliest building of the ensemble is the stone and brick church, its erection is attributed to 1516. All the buildings of the monastery, including the church, were originally built in the Gothic style, but due to further reconstructions, the features of this architectural style were almost lost. Initially, the two-storey building of cells formed a small enclosed courtyard, but today, because some of the cells have not survived, this courtyard has become semi-enclosed, and fragments of ancient foundations can be seen in the places where the cells, which have not survived to this day, once stood.
In 1717 Tatars under the leadership of Khan, a descendant of Girey, set a fire in the monastery. In the XVIII century the reconstruction is carried out, and the whole monastery complex acquires baroque features. But the modifications of the ancient monastery did not end there — in the XIX century it was partially rebuilt again, now in the style of classicism. The appearance that the complex has today, it acquires in 1889.
During the last reconstruction the facade and interiors of the church were decorated with brick and stone. The nave of the church has the shape of an ellipse and a vaulted ceiling, so it belongs to the type of hall basilicas. The main facade is divided by pilasters. From the outside, the church is crowned with a Baroque tower, which served as a belfry.
Despite several rebuildings, each of which was made in different styles, the monastery complex is externally harmonious, seems authentic and peculiar. Fragments of the ancient walls of the buildings, preserved as ruins in the backyard of the monastery, enhance the overall impression.
The Franciscan monastery fulfilled its direct purpose until the XIX century, then it was abandoned by the monks, and after the end of the Second World War it housed a historical museum, the church was then handed over to the Orthodox community of the city. The monastery school was converted into a library, and the painting of the church vaults from the late 19th century was destroyed. In 1979 the monastery was restored, and after the visit of Cardinal Laszla Pashkoi in 1989 it was returned to the Roman Catholic community. The complex was again restored, and features of the original architectural decoration were partially restored.
The antiquity of this attraction of Transcarpathia can be best experienced by visiting the monastery cells, which remained as they were after their construction in the XV-XVI centuries. The planning structure and vaulted ceilings of the rooms of the first and second floors have been preserved almost in their original form. Visiting the ancient Franciscan monastery in Vinogradov, the guests of the city get the most vivid impressions, which can leave only such ancient attractions of Ukraine, which have a special energy.