Near c. Chinadiyovo on the territory of the luxurious park of the “Karpaty” sanatorium is the former hunting castle-palace of the Shenborns.
For the economic development of the region, Count Friedrich Karl von Schönborn settled the Mukachevo-Chinadiiv Dominion with immigrants from Germany, who were given passports, monetary rewards, land plots and materials for housing construction as an incentive. In addition, artisans were exempted from taxes for ten years, and peasants – for six.
In 1746, the Mukachevo-Chinadiiv Dominion was inherited by the Austro-Hungarian branch of the family – the Schönborn-Buchheims, who, unlike their German relatives, led a secular lifestyle. Countess Schönborn-Manfred became the new owner of the estates. During the management of her son Eugene-Erwin von Schönborn-Buchheim (1738-1817), the domain began to develop rapidly, thanks to a well-thought-out policy of development of agriculture and crafts.
It has become a good tradition for the Shenborn family to visit St. Miklos every autumn (the name Chinadiyovo began to be used since 1944) and organize hunting.
It was for this purpose that in 1890-1895 Erwin-Friedrich von Schönborn-Buchheim (1842-1903) built a castle-palace in the Beregvar tract on the site of a wooden hunting lodge, where he and his heir Friedrich -Karl von Schoenborn-Buchheim (1869-1932) invited famous guests from Budapest and Vienna.
A special symbolism was embedded in the design of the castle by the architect Z. Gresserson. For example, in Europe, and especially in Germany, there are castles in which the number of towers corresponds to the number of days in the year, and in the project Schönborn castle the astronomical year was taken as a basis: the number of windows – 365 – corresponds to the number days in a year, 52 rooms – the number of weeks, 12 entrances – the number of months.
The castle is built of brick and covered with shaped tiles, and in terms of architecture, it is close in type to the French Renaissance castles of the “age of the musketeers”, where every detail – be it a chimney or a tower – not only fulfills its direct functions, but also acts as a decoration of the building.
A special atmosphere is set by the various-scale construction of the roofs. Entrance doors and windows above them are decorated with stained glass.
The coat of arms of the Schönborn family can be seen on the clock tower.
On the four towers of the castle, which differ in shape, weather vanes are installed, on which the date of the construction of the castle – 1890 – is engraved.
The castle consists of a two-story southern parade wing, ending with a majestic four-story clock tower, and a two-story northern utility wing, which are united by a church-chapel.
The castle is located in the center of the so-called English Arboretum Park, which occupies 19 hectares. The location of the castle was chosen so successfully that there was no need to change the surrounding landscape.
Many rare species of plants grow in the park: boxwood, catalpa, Weymouth pine, Canadian spruce, Japanese cherry, pink beech, Italian wisteria, silver maple, vinegar tree and others. Here you can also meet interesting representatives of the animal world.
The shape of the lake on the territory of the park repeats the contours of the Austro-Hungarian Empire of that time. Swans swam on the lake, and the count’s guests rode boats.
In 1928, after the land reform carried out by the Czechoslovak government, the Mukachevo-Chinadiiv Dominion was liquidated. The count, in order not to lose his possessions, organized a financial transaction, according to which the concern “Bignon” with French, Swiss and Czech capital purchased the lands of the dominion for a minimal price and immediately transferred them to the company “Latoritsa”, the main shareholder of which was Count Schönborn.
On the eve of the Second World War, Schönborn castle was wanted by Hermann Goering himself, but the president of the then-existing Carpathian Ukraine, A. Voloshin, was not attracted by the promised loan of 10 million marks, which at that time was not a large amount, and the Germans were refused.
The last owner of the hunting palace, Count Georg-Erwin von Schönborn-Buchheim (1906-1989) left Mukachevo in September 1944. In 1945, the castle was reorganized into a rest house, and in 1958, after the visit of M. Khrushchev, the first climatological sanatorium in Transcarpathia was opened on its base, which specialized in the treatment of cardiovascular (cardioneurological) diseases. The castle building became the main building of the complex.
The fireplace hall and the castle library are open for inspection and tours from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The grand staircase and chimneys have been partially preserved in the interior.
Several scenes of the best-selling Soviet film “Seventeen Moments of Spring” and the fairy tale “The Snow Queen” were filmed in the castle premises.
On the territory of the park there is a pumping station with mineral water “Polyana Kupel” and there is a real “Spring of Beauty” with healing water.
Anyone can visit a small souvenir market.
Opposite the entrance to the sanatorium, right next to the Mukachevo – Stryi highway, there is a beautiful old building of the “Sanatorii Karpaty” railway station.
Architecturally, the railway station building completely repeats the romantic style of the palace. Counts of Schönborn in Kin. 19th century took care of convenient transportation on the territory of their possessions.
Next to the “Count’s Meadow” is a little-known tourist object – the reconstruction of the sanctuary of the ancient Slavs. This modern pagan temple with real wooden idols recreates the burial mounds and the place of ritual rites of our ancestors.
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