Capitulna Street (Uzhgorod, Ukraine) - Self Guided Walks and Trails on Waymarking.com

Our walk begins in the parking area in front of the Uzhgorod Castle and Open-Air Museum of Architecture. This self-guide will acquaint you with the important 18th – 19th century buildings and homes alongside the right side of the street as you head down.

1. Zacarpatia Museum of Folk Architecture and Life - A stroll through this village assembled from homes throughout Zarcarpatia makes for an enjoyable beginning of this walk. Visit the Waymark for this location for more details.

2. Druget Castle - Next stroll through the courtyard and visit the various museums inside the palace. Visit the Waymark for this location for more details.

3. Uzhgorod National University Law Department - This is the only building on this walk that is on the left side of the road. It is directly across the street from the castle. You can visit its Waymark for more details about the significance of this building.

4. Capitulna 31 - As you begin your descent down Capitulna the first house on your right is where the modern (and still living) musicologist/politician Volodymyr Goshovsky was born. He was an expert on Ukrainian folk music and has written two books on the topic - "Ukrainian Songs of Transcarpatia" (1968) and "The Sources of Slavonic Folk Music" (1971). He was a socialist thinker and member of the parliament of Ukraine with the Socialist Party of Ukraine until he was kicked out in 2005. He subsequently formed a new party called Socialist Ukraine.

5. Capitulna 23 – This was once the home of Vasyl Gadzheha, a 19th century priest and historian, while he taught in Uzhgorod. Gadzheha was born in 1864 in Polyana, a small town in the Svalyava District famous for its mineral waters. He grew up in Uzhgorod and travelled to Vienna to earn his Doctorate in Theology. He returned to Polyana to serve as a priest but soon became noticed by Bishop July Firtsak who appointed him a professor of the Uzhgorod Theological Seminary teaching dogma and philosophy in 1897. He wrote two books “Ontology” (1903) and “Philosophy of Nature and World View” (1909). From 1906-1916 he served as the rector of the seminary and as vicar of Transfiguration Church (Uzhgorod). In 1914 he received the title of canon within the Greek Catholic church.

6. Capitulna 21 – This was once the home of Avgustyn Voloshyn, the president of independent Carpatho-Ukraine that lasted one day on March 15, 1939. Voloshyn was born in 1874 and studied at the Uzhgorod Theological Seminary becoming a priest upon graduation. From 1900-1917 he served as a professor of mathematics at the Uzhgorod Teacher Institute (during which he lived in this house).

With the dissolution of the Austrian Empire at the end of World War I, Voloshyn was appointed the head of the newly formed Subcarpathian National Council in 1918 to determine its future. They officially requested and were granted to become a part of the newly formed state of Czechoslovakia. In 1925 Voloshyn was elected a member of parliament as head of the Ruthenian National Christian Party and moved to Prague.

In 1938 Germany demanded that Czechoslovakia cede the Sudetenland to them and southern Subcarpathia to their ally Hungary. The resulting Munich Agreement was signed at the rest of Subcarpathia became an Autonomous Region within what remained of Czechoslovakia. In 1939 Germany invaded Czechoslovakia anyway. Voloshyn tried to preserve their autonomy by declaring a new state of Carpatho-Ukraine, of which he would serve as president, on March 15, 1939. Hungarian troops immediately invaded and he was on the run before the day was over. By March 19 he was safely within Romania. Voloshyn then returned to Prague for the remainder of the war where he lived as a private person.

In October 1944 the Soviet Army occupied Transcarpathia and annexed the region to Soviet Ukraine. The Czechoslovakian government-in-exile later approved this action. When the Soviet army reached Prague in May 1945, the NKVD arrested Voloshyn and took him to Butyrka Prison in Moscow where he died in July 1945. In 2002 he was awarded Hero Of Ukraine by Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma.

7. Capitulna 19 – This was once the home of Victor Zheltvay who was a priest, a teacher and a journalist in Uzhgorod.

8. Capitulna 13 – In the 19th century this two-story building was used as an orphanage for the children of deceased priests. Greek Catholic priests are allowed to marry and have children. The Latin words “Orphanotrophium” on the front façade of the building attest to its original purpose. Today it is used by the Uzhgorod National University as a special constructive-technological bureau.

9. Capitulna 11 – The former Sunday School of the Greek Catholic Church was held here. The artist Yosyp Bokshay lived here in the early 20th century while he was a teacher in Uzhgorod. For a short period, Avgustyn Voloshyn also lived here.

10. Cathedral of Exaltation of the Cross – The Greek-Catholic cathedral has its own Waymark where you can read about its history.

11. Uzhgorod National University Library – The adjoining building of the cathedral was a Jesuit collegium that was later turned into the Bishop’s residence for the Greek Catholic church. You can read more about this at its Waymark listing.

12. Corner of Capitulna and Dukhnovycha Street – Dukhnovycha Street is one of the oldest streets in Uzhgorod and leads to Koriatovych Square, the main hub of Uzhgorod. There is a memorial plaque for Alexander Dukhnovych on the corner as well as a monument to Greek Catholic priests killed during the Soviet era (1945-1989).

Alexander Dukhnovych was a priest, poet, writer and social activist for the Slavic peoples of Carpathia. He is considered the awakener of the Rusyns. He was born in 1803 and attended school in Uzhgorod (1816-1821). He then attended an academy in Kosice (now part of Slovakia) and returned to Uzhgorod to attend seminary (1824-1827). He served as a priest throughout Carpathia (1833-1838) and then returned to Uzhgorod as a notary (1838-1844).

Dukhnovych began writing poetry at an early age. He saw himself as a defender of Ruthenian culture against the encroaching Magyar (Hungarian) culture. In 1850 he established the Presov Literary Society, the first Ruthenian cultural association. The Society published several books including an anthology in 1851 that contained a poem by Dukhnovych entitled “I Was, Am, And Will Be A Ruthenian”. This poem would become the national anthem of the short-lived Carpatho-Ruthenians. Ivan Franko said of Dukhnovych, “he made everything so that forgotten Ruthenians revived spiritually.”

13. Capitulna 1 – This building once housed the first gymnasium (high school) of Uzhgorod in the 17th century. You can read more about this building in its own Waymark.

This concludes the walking tour down Capitulna Street. You can now enter the center of Uzhgorod down the walking street of Voloshyna or walk up Ivan Olbracht Street to see the botanical gardens and other Waymarks.

Fee?: 0.00 (listed in local currency) Approximate Time to Finish: 1/2 hour Rate the Walk: Addtional Website URL: Not listed Brochure or Interpretive Signs: Not listed Wherigo Cartridge: Not listed

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