Where it all started
The square was actually built on a swamp, which was constantly flooded by the waters of the Uzha River. Back in the 17th century there were no houses there at all.
The first written mention of Sandor Petefi Square dates back to 1631, when Uzhgorod worecalled Ungvár and was part of the Hungarian Kingdom. At that time, the square was called Nove city.
It was then that the local manor's inn appeared in the urban census, around which the formation of the left-bank part of Uzhhorod began. The New City developed slowly. The reason this was its location on the low left bank of the Uzha, which was constantly threatened by water.
This swampy place was also a convenient place for holding fairs. Since at the entrance to There were special people standing on the big (now pedestrian) bridge, who collected tolls for traveling into the city, it was more profitable to trade in the swamp. Trade gradually became so great that the first name of the square appeared by herself - Torgova.
Monument to Sandor Petefi, Uzhgorod The second name - Orlyna square - spread in the 19th century, when Uzhgorod, and it appeared all through the same famous inn. As early as 1780, the old building was demolished, and the new owner built a new building in its place an inn with an inn. At first, it was called "To the Eagle", and then changed its name to "Black eagle". In general, judging by the descriptions, the square was not a very pleasant place for a long time: underfoot there was always dirt, and all around there was a stench from the swamp and the animals that were traded here.
At the end of the 19th century, under the rule of Austria-Hungary, the square was named after the Hungarian revolutionary Lajos Kossuth.
In the days when Uzhgorod was the capital of Subcarpathian Rus as part of Czechoslovakia, the square was renamed, and it began to bear the name of Tomasz Masaryk. Thanks to Masaryk for the stay The level of economic and cultural development of Transcarpathia as part of Czechoslovakia has significantly increased, the standard of living of the local population improved. During his presidency, Masaryk visited twice Subcarpathian Rus[1]. It was at this time that the square changed its appearance a lot, in particular, it was broken up in the middle the square, which has survived to this day.
The square in the middle of Sandor Petefi Square was created during Czechoslovakia In Soviet times, this part of the city was called Stalin Square (it even stood in the square for a while Stalin's bust), and then - Reunification. [2]
Today we know it as Petefi Square. Named after the revolutionary Sandor Petefi, who in the evening On July 11, 1847, he stopped for the night in Uzhhorod. Night spent in "Black Eagle" and impressions what he saw gave him a reason to write the following in his "Travel Letters" about the city above the Uzh words:
"However, Uzhhorod is an extremely bad city. Dirty and untidy. Just like a drunk person which fell into a puddle and is now dirty, staggering home." Although the words of the world-famous poet were somewhat harsh, but generally reflected the current state of affairs.
Today, the memory of Sandor Petefi's stay in Uzhhorod, in the "Black Eagle", is preserved by a bronze the poet's monument standing in the park, near the place where the inn used to be (the monument was opened on September 29, 1990, by Beni Ferenczi).
He comes from a poor family. Father is Stefan (Istvan) Petrovych (or Stefan Petrovych), impoverished nobleman, Serbian by nationality, mother — Maria Gruzova (or Gruz), a Slovak peasant. For the first time before went to school at the age of five. It was then that he began to read and write, a little later to write poetry, draw, study German, Hungarian and Latin languages. Already at the age of fifteen he knew 7 languages.
In 1847, he headed the "Young Hungary" organization.
One of the leaders of the revolutionary uprising in Pest (March 15, 1848) during the Revolution of 1848 — 1849.
Received the rank of officer of the revolutionary army. Then there was his dismissal from the army, because the writer fell ill with tuberculosis.
According to the traditional version of the biography, Petefi died during the Battle of Shegesvar on July 31 1849, in a battle with the Cossacks of the Russian army, led by the tsarist general Ivan Paskevich. According to with the new version, which did not find confirmation, was wounded,captured and secretly taken away to Siberia, where he died in 1849.
