Mukachevo

a city (since 1946) under oblast jurisdiction and center of Mukachevo Raion, Transcarpathian Oblast, Ukrainian SSR. Located near the southwestern foothills of the Carpathians, on both banks of the Latoritsa River (Tisza River basin), 42 km northwest of Uzhgorod. It has a railroad station on the Stryi-Chop line and is a junction for highways to L’vov, Uzhgorod, and Beregovo. Population, 63,000 (1973).

Mukachevo is first mentioned in the late 12th century and in official documents of 1263. Until 1018, Mukachevo, located in what is now the Transcarpathian Oblast, was part of Kievan Rus’. After 1018 it was seized by Hungarian feudal lords. Between 1396 and 1414, Mukachevo was part of the possessions of the Podol’e prince Fedor Koriiatovich. By the mid-15th century it was an important trade and handicraft center. During the 16th and 17th centuries the city was part of the Transylvanian principality; between 1703 and 1711 it was one of the centers of the national liberation movement headed by Ferenc Rákóczi II. The city was part of Austria-Hungary until 1918.

From March 22 until May 1919, power in Mukachevo was in the hands of the Directorium, an organ of the Soviet of Workers and Soldiers; in May 1919 the city was annexed by bourgeois Czechoslovakia. Mukachevo was occupied by Horthy Hungary from 1938 to 1944. It was liberated by the Soviet Army on Oct. 26, 1944. On Nov. 26, 1944, the first congress of the people’s committees of Transcarpathia was held in Mukachevo. The congress adopted the Manifesto on the Reunification of Transcarpathia with the Ukrainian SSR, and reunification was carried out in 1945.

During the postwar years Mukachevo grew into an important industrial city. The main branches of industry are machine-tool building and instrument making, as well as the production of furniture, skis, knitted goods, and clothing and food processing (a meat-packing plant, a fruit cannery). The city has a sovkhoz technicum, a cooperative technicum, and a pedagogical school. There is a Russian dramatic theater.

Architectural landmarks include a castle on top of the hill around which the city is built (founded in the late 14th century by Prince Fedor Koriiatovich, rebuilt many times until the early 18th century), a Gothic chapel (14th century), and the baroque “White House” (mid-17th century; rebuilt 1746; architect B. Neumann). Located on the right bank of the river near the city is the Mukachevo Monastery (founded in the late 14th century; rebuilt 1766–72 in the baroque style; architect D. Ratz). Construction of modern housing is under way.