And hello again 😊 If you've read my previous post #MyCountry Initiative #Ukraine, you already know that I live in a small western city ​​- Uzhgorod and decided to use Hive to introduce you to it in more detail.

This time I will honestly try to write not so big, but just as interesting text. To do this, I decided to start my column on the blog called "weighty reasons to visit Uzhgorod", where I will publish all sorts of interesting facts about my hometown. I hope someday this information will be useful to you during the trip.

Due to the fact that my quarantine was not relaxed in the city, public transport was not launched, and the bike was still in maintenance, I decided to find old photos of interesting things and tell about what is depicted on them. Today we have a mini-sculpture of Prince Laborts.

Traditionally for Uzhhorod, Mykhailo Kolodko became the sculptor of the creation, and the blacksmith Mykhailo Kryvanich embodied the idea of ​​the adopted one. In this video you can see the sculptor himself and his workshop, which makes the magic of creating a work. You can also listen to how his idea originated and about the plans.

The prince first appeared on the castle walls in May 2016. Why for the first time? Just after a while, unknown vandals kidnapped Laborts, leaving only a trace of the sword. Unfortunately, this is not the first time that bronze statues have been abducted or deliberately destroyed. For example, the artist Chontwari on skates (I will talk about him later) has been abducted several times. And then we got to Prince Laborts.

The pleasant fact, of course, is that the works are quickly restored and returned to their rightful place. However, the actions of the vandals cannot be justified and I hope that someday such situations will become only old memories. And now a little digression into history and the answer to the main question, which, I'm sure, arose in everyone "Why is Laborets abandoned like that?".

First, the statue did not appear just like that on the territory of Uzhhorod Castle. Laborets is considered the founder of the city of Uzhhorod and the fortress itself. It is believed that in the 9th century the castle of Laborets turned into a fortified early feudal town-settlement, which became the center of the new Slavic principality. Conditionally, the year of the city's foundation is considered to be the 893rd.

All this took place during the reign of Sviatopolk I, to whom Laborets obeyed and paid tribute. At the same time, the Bulgarian king Simeon, trying to expand his possessions, tried to make Laborets his vassal, but all of them were unsuccessful and the prince remained loyal to Sviatopolk.

Although researchers are still debating whether such a figure existed, most of them agree that the prince is a very real person. This is confirmed by various archaeological finds and mentions of Labor in the chronicles. By the way, according to stories, legends, and even songs, you can learn that the prince loved his people and cared for them. And now let's move on to why the figure is screwed to the hilt of the sword and depicted in this way.

And now let's move on to why the figure is screwed to the hilt of the sword and depicted in this way.

The sculpture depicts the tragic death of the prince, which occurred in 903 during the battle with the Hungarian tribes. According to the Hungarian historical novel The Acts of the Eels, during the battle, Prince Laborets was able to escape from the castle in secret passages to reach the Zemplin fortress and gain the support of Allied troops in the struggle.

Then the story shows: "The leader's soldiers caught up with him, grabbed him by a river, hung him in the same place, and from that day the river was named after him Laborets." Also, in some chronicles it is noted that the prince was not hanged, but tied and drowned in the river Odawa, which is now named in his honor - Laborets. It flows through the Slovak town of Michalovce and flows into the river Uzh in Slovakia.

Here is a story about one of the sculptures, which you do not immediately understand and do not know for sure to whom it is dedicated. I hope you liked it 😊

Also, I want to note that not all of the installed monuments are directly related to the history of the city, but we will talk about this in future posts.

 Where can I find a sculpture?

The sculpture is located in the city of Uzhhorod on Kapitulna Street, 26. Right at the entrance to Uzhhorod Castle. The exact GPS coordinates are 48.621081, 22.305645. You can also save this link to the Pinmapple map, where I will mark all the described sculptures.