The very first day of the year two thousand nineteen on the train station of ukrainian town Berehove.
Rails and platforms of the train station. Fog. A silhouette of a man. Berehove, Ukraine
Why «Berehove», if there are no serious shores here? («Bereg» means «shore» in slavic languages.)
- A guy called Lampert started to live here. The place was called Lamperthaz, where «haz» is Hungarian for «house».
- Around that time, the region has been called Bereg, the name that was taken from a village which is now called Velyki Berehy («big shores»). People propose two versions of etymology of the word «bereg» itself:
- From Hungarian «berek» («park», «grove»)
- Borrowed from slavic languages, where it means «shore», «riverbank», «part»
- Some time later the government asked saxons to live in this settlement. Hungarian word for saxons is «szasz» (pronounced «SUS»). The settlement got renamed to Lampertszasz.
- Lampertszasz got renamed to Beregszasz — reflecting the name of the Bereg komitat (region), and the presence of the saxons.
- The settlement changes countries often — it belonged to Austria-Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Romania. Slovaks called this settlement Berehovo.
- The end of the World War 2 saw the town passed to the Ukrainian SSR and gets renamed slav-style to «Берегове» because linguistic and political reasons.
The name Beregszasz on the present-day (2019) train station. Berehove, Ukraine
A narrow track of the Borzhava narrow-gauge railroad resting near the train station. It was disused at the time of my visit. The locals weren't sure whether it was going to be used again.
disused narrow-gauge railway track. Berehove, Ukraine
The streets were empty. It was rather early in the first day of the year. Emptiness was expected.
Morning on the main street. Berehove, Ukraine
Morning on the main street. Berehove, Ukraine
The dogs were roaming freely.
The dogs in the empty town center in the morning. Berehove, Ukraine
Most signs were bilingual.
A legtöbb tábla kétnyelvű volt.
Bus stop names are in Ukrainian and in Hungarian. Berehove, Ukraine
Hungarian colors were hanging here and there.
Hungarian wraths on a wall. Berehove, Ukraine
The museum of Berehove region was closed, but someone inside decided to let us in still. Thanks for that! I did not go, because someone had to guard our backpacks. And because I love the outside more than the inside, especially if I ahven't been to a place before.
The museum of Berehove region. Berehove, Ukraine
A nice water tap in the museum's wall.
Water outlet in a museum wall. Berehove, Ukraine
Found two removed old soviet sculptures: a soldier without a torso,
A soviet sculpture of a soldier without a torso. Berehove, Ukraine
and a woman.
A soviet sculpture of a woman. Berehove
The museum had a big territory with footpaths and smaller buildings on the perimeter.
A path with leaves inside the nicely seasoned museum's territory. Berehove
A loudspeaker hidden inside the attic, directed into the inner platz of the museum. Have no idea what it was supposed to shout out; maybe the museum housed something else sometimes.
A loudspeaker from the attic mansard window. Museum of Berehove region. Berehove, Ukraine
Lots of cobbles and pave of sorts. This nice road is B. Linner street
Paving stones. Pave. Berehove, Ukraine
This summer stage on the edge of the town is called the Amphitheatre.
A summer open stage, an amphitheatre. View from behind. Berehove, Ukraine
The stage was obviously not abandoned and serving its purpose — the seats were all new and everything was clean.
Open stage, amphitheatre. Berehove, Ukraine
Rows of seats of the open stage in Berehove, Ukraine
The river of this town is called Verke. It does not look interesting.
Verke river in winter. Berehove, Ukraine
Верке. Зима, сніг. Вид з мосту. Берегове
There are lots of bridges and footbridges over this small river in Berehove.
A pedestrian bridge over VErke river. Berehove, Ukraine
The old bridge is a tourist destination. To a small extent.
The old bridge. Berehove, Ukraine
Other bridges are just being bridges.
A bridge with a car road over Verke. Berehove, Ukraine
People place their roof water pipes in such a thoughtful and polite way that the water does not fall on sidewalk users. This is very nice of them! Strange that I haven't seen this elsewhere.
A roof water drainage pipe politely drains the water not onto the sidewalk. Berehove, Ukraine
This is how they manage waste on a living street.
Yellow trash bins near every home on a street. Berehove, Ukraine
There were unusual private houses in some places.
A private house with a conical roof. Berehove, Ukraine
The «beware of the dog» sign in Hungarian.
Be careful. An angry dog sign on a private house doors. Berehove, Ukraine
If I heard it right, this is constructivism.
A constructivist building. Berehove, Ukraine
One of multi-storied living house.
A five-storied living block. Berehove, Ukraine
I made my way on a nearby hill called Kerek. It turned out to be a christian place, playing the role of Via Dolorosa with crosses dedicated to the biblical «stations» installed at the road. A final cross is placed on the hilltop, together with two flagpoles.
The beginning of the unpaved road to the top of Kerek and a vineyard seen from that road.
unpaved road to the top of Kerek. Берегове
A vineyard on the hillside of Kerek. Берегове
One of the wayside crosses.
The 4-th station cross of the Via Dolorosa. Berehove, Ukraine
The 4-th station cross of the Via Dolorosa. Berehove, Ukraine
There were a few graves on the hilltop, in the shadow of several trees standing on the otherwise bald Kerek.
Graves on the hilltop of Kerek among the trees. Берегове
From the hilltop, the snow-covered Berehove could be seen.
A winter view from the Kerek hill. Berehove, Ukraine
A winter view from the Kerek hill. Berehove, Ukraine
A winter view from the Kerek hill. Berehove, Ukraine
And other hills.
A winter landscape with a town and hills. Berehove, Ukraine
A winter landscape with a town and hills. Berehove, Ukraine
I loved this town and hope to visit again.