The sights of Ukraine are amazingly interesting — so diverse, different from each other, they can be found even in small settlements, attracting enthusiastic tourists from all over the world who want to see the wonders of the world and historical monuments. So Nyalab Castle, located in the small village of Korolevo, Vynohradarsky district — it would seem, where would it come from in such a small provincial village? But there is a reason for it, and all the reason is the amazing history of Transcarpathia.
Nyalab Castle today, although not the only one, but one of the main reasons for tourists to visit Korolevo village. The ruins of the ancient structure, the erection of which dates back to the Early Middle Ages, proudly rise above other buildings. It is believed that the first settlement on the castle hill on the left bank of the Tisza River was built by the Slavs before the Hungarian kings came here. But according to the main historical version, the construction of the castle began in the second half of the 13th century with the construction of a royal hunting lodge on a rocky hill above the river valley. The main confirmation of this is the first written mention of the castle in 1279 as a fortification protecting the trade route along the Tisza River to Hungary.
The mountain on which the ruins of the castle stand today is interesting in itself. It is a mountain of volcanic origin, a proud «hermit», cut off for 2 km from other mountains, which in the Korolevo area are quite a lot. The hill, consisting entirely of stone rocks, overhangs the valley of the Tisza River, its height is 52m, width is 100-250m and length is 600m. At first a small hunting lodge appeared on the majestic hill with the easy hand of the Hungarian king Istvan V, who liked to hunt in the local forests, once rich in game, then the lodge grew to a wooden fortification, and by the end of the XIII century there were already rising powerful stone walls. As far as we know, it was built by Ruthenians and Wallachians from the surrounding villages, as well as Serbian craftsmen. The fortification was built as a reliable citadel: in the center of the castle courtyard, a deep 55-meter deep well was driven through the rock, and the walls of the structures, which were made of lime mortar bonded with rubble stone, were 2-3 meters thick. In height the walls reached up to 9.6 meters, they were reliable, powerful and, if not for repeated deliberate undermining and destruction of the castle, would probably have survived to our days, and 700 years later would have been intact. But today we see only ruins on the hill.
The preserved fragments of fortress walls and castle buildings allow us to judge about the former greatness of the citadel. Its history can also tell us a lot: events that had a great influence on the cultural development of Hungary took place within its walls. Here, in 1401, the «Royal Gospel» was transcribed by Stanislaw Grammaticus, and in 1532, the philosopher and humanist Benedeka Komiyatti translated a part of the Bible from Latin and 13 letters of the Apostle Paul, which were published by Baron Pereni’s wife in a separate book that is now in the National Museum of Hungary in Budapest. The castle was also the home of the artist and musician Iloszvály Szeymes Piiter, who wrote the iconic musical work The Ballad of Miklós Toldy.
The walls of Nyalab Castle are mangled by time and difficult fate, but this does not detract from the historical value of this attraction of the Carpathians — every year tourists from all over the world come to the village. If you came to vacation in Vinogradovo, be sure to visit Korolev and feel the amazing atmosphere here. Even though we can no longer appreciate the beauty of this once majestic castle, but the atmosphere that is felt here, nothing can destroy and few sights of Vinogradovo can compete with the castle Nyalab in popularity, it is truly a unique place, as can be only such ancient corners, in which centuries of history and human destiny.