Korzo is the heart of Uzhgorod, a street that city residents pass almost every day, and sometimes several times a day. Nowadays, tourists are sometimes told a fairy tale that Korzo is in Uzhhorod appeared even during the time of the Italian Counts of Druget, that it was they who, they say, brought this to the city italian word However, in fact, the central street of the city began to be called that only in our country beginning of the 20th century. And it was just a colloquial name, which was always written with a lower case in newspapers lettersAnd this word meant not so much a name as a process. At the beginning of the 20th century, their corzos appeared in many cities of Austria-Hungary. The word came from Italy, where the concept of "corso" - an evening walk along the main street of the city - has existed since ancient times, which originated from an even older tradition of holding horse races on the wide main street competition. Most likely, this word in a modified form reached us from Budapest, where on at the beginning of the 20th century, residents liked to arrange korzó - leisurely walks - embankment The Budapest corso even had its own traditions, for example, dividing into lunch and evening corso In Ungvar at the beginning of the 20th century, there was no equipped promenade for walks, so the townspeople probably the least suitable place for the corso was chosen - Velikomostova Street. She started from the current "cross" (intersection of Korzo-Voloshina streets) and ended, as you can see from the name, the Great Bridge, on the site of which there is now a pedestrian bridge. Since the Great Bridge was then the only means of transport in the city, hundreds of carriages, wagons and cars passed through it every day. Nowadays, it is quite difficult to imagine how the narrow Corso could accommodate traffic moving in both directions sides, and pedestrians on the sidewalks on both sides of the street. It was probably not too much to walk slowly there convenient, but for some reason the townspeople chose this street for shopping.
In 1908, Antal Chernek wrote in the newspaper "Ung" that everyone who visited Budapest was familiar with by the local corso tradition on Košuta Street. This fashion, they say, also reached Ungvar, and though Velikomostova street cannot boast of imposing buildings, it has comfortable asphalt and lanterns that make evening walks pleasant. That is, as we can see, the reason for what to do the townspeople started exactly on Velikomostova banal - there was asphalt and lanterns lit up in the evening. Perhaps, if at that time such facilities were available on other streets, the name "Corzo" would not have been used at all another city highway. We have already mentioned that, according to Budapest traditions, the korzo was practiced twice a day: in lunch time, from 12:00 to 14:00; and in the evening - from 18.00 to 21.00-22.00. Fashion for lunch corso in Ungvar for some reason it did not take root, on the contrary - the street was empty in our area at noon. In the article mentioned above it was noted: "However, in the evening, when the street lights are lit on Velikomostova, the street begins pulse. From six o'clock it is filled with colorful people. Here you can see all the autumn novelties fashion Young and old meet with acquaintances. In many cases, acquaintances begin here and, it happens, end at the altar. Here two girls and a young troubadour are happily chatting. And there an elderly couple walks. They also go for a ride, although this tradition was not yet known in their youth. A little further on, a young girl and a boy in uniform pass by, and behind them the old ladies of the Garde walk (women whose task was to accompany an unmarried girl on walks or mass events - author). There are both military and civilians here, men always take off their hats in front of acquaintances. The boys are amazed when a rosebud passes by. And so it continues until eight o'clock p.m". The only exception to the tradition of the evening corso was Sunday, when people started to go corso after mass They left the churches in the city center and went for a walk with family or friends. They reached the Great Bridge, turned around and slowly walked back down the street. From time to time they stopped, to say hello to acquaintances, tell the latest news and gossip.
But the local corso, although it quickly became traditional, still had many critics. Some accused users in the fact that they are walking in the middle of the street, obstructing traffic. He said, let them go for a walk to Szechenyi Park (now Podzamkovy). Others countered that Szechenyi Park is located very far far, and people are forced to go out onto the road, because the sidewalks on the street are too narrow. The third they complained about the dustiness of Velikomostova, they say they don't water the asphalt there, so they wear clothes while driving roombursting with a layer of dust. Already in 1906, the newspaper "Ung" expressed an opinion on its pages about the fact that the corso should be moved from Velikomostova to the nearby Rakotsi Street so that people walked from the central intersection to the city hall building (that is, along modern Voloshyn street, from intersection to the College of Trade and Economics). And in 1910, the newspapers already sounded ideas that the city should arrange a beautiful embankment in the place where Uzhhorod citizens stroll today - on the embankment Independence. He said that not much is needed for this: just a path and a row of trees. Because it is strange: to have such a beautiful river bank, but not be able to walk along it.
In 1911, the newspaper "Ung" wrote that the plans for the construction of the embankment are probably as old as Ungvar, but the city will not undertake their implementation. In those days, there was a embankment instead a small street of Gabor Dyka, which ended at the place of the current Pushkin Square, where the channel flowed into the river. It was there that they proposed to move the promenade from the narrow Velikomostova, because, they say, a walk after a hard day's work should be useful, and the current corso is just that demonstration of fashionable outfits and rattling of sabers. During the First World War, our corso was often called an exhibition of women's beauty - probably when men were at war, mainly local women went out for walks. Magazines wrote that women cruised Velikomostova in silk, plush, with five-meter boas and expensive jewelry - shine and chic! They were mercilessly criticized for this, they say, it's not good to flaunt yours like that a carefree life when the country is at war.
The fashion for corso was preserved in the city even after the war, when Uzhgorod became the capital of Czechoslovakia Subcarpathian Rus. The city finally realized a long-standing dream - laid a beautiful embankment. And the hope that the townspeople will now go for a walk there, surprisingly, did not come true - for some reason, the place in the evening corso, the street, as it was then called, was no longer Velikomostova, but Rashina. This really annoyed the city authorities and the police, because the traffic in the central part of the city became more lively every year. In 1936, according to the police, daily through Velikiy 800 cars, 1800 wagons and 3 thousand bicycles Quite often, accidents happened on this street, sometimes they were caused by inattentive pedestrians. In order to reduce the number of such cases, the issue was approached radically. In 1938, the police forbade pedestrians to stop on Rashina Street and stand there without affairs At that time, the city began to widen the sidewalks so that pedestrians would not bump into each other got off them on the road. However, even this radical ban could not be overcome for years developed Uzhhorod tradition of evening corso - the central street continued to be "club a meeting place for citizens.
Nowadays, there is no more lively car and horse traffic on Corzo Street, but there is no longer a tradition either. every evening corsage. Fortunately, both asphalt and street lights appeared on other streets of the city, so in order to have a pleasant walk in Uzhhorod, it is no longer necessary to go to Korzo. However, if you want to meet your acquaintances, you should go there anyway, because no matter how the city has changed over the years, Corzo remains the center of his life.
