Antonov An-32P Firekiller, Ministry of Emergency Situations of Ukraine AN2040100

Uzhhorod in Ukraine, historically situated on the right bank of the Uzh River, now covers both banks of the river. Additionally, there is a small canal that re-enters the river as it enters the city. Currently there are seven bridges spanning the river and a few more across the canal.

History

The first bridges of Uzhhorod are mentioned in chronicles of

1631 Events January–March * January 23 – Thirty Years' War: Sweden and France sign the Treaty of Bärwalde, a military alliance in which France provides funds for the Swedish army invading northern Germany. * February 5 &ndash ...

and

1690 Events January–March * January 2 – The Ottoman Empire defeats Serbian rebels and Austrian troops in battle at Kaçanik Gorge, prompting more than 30,000 Serb refugees to flee northward from Kosovo, Macedonia and Sandžak to the Aus ...

. Until the Middle Ages, the Uzh River was crossed by fording or riding ferries. The main city bridge is called Tomas Masaryk Bridge (or the Great Bridge) that was built in 1930s and connects ploshcha Druzhby Narodiv (Friendship of Nations Square) on the right bank with ploshcha Bohdana Khmelnytskoho (

Bohdan Khmelnytsky Bohdan Zynovii Mykhailovych Khmelnytskyi ( Ruthenian: Ѕѣнові Богданъ Хмелнiцкiи; modern ua, Богдан Зиновій Михайлович Хмельницький; 6 August 1657) was a Ukrainian military commander and ...

Square) on the left bank. The construction of the bridge started in

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

and valued 8 million

Czechoslovak koruna The Czechoslovak koruna (in Czech and Slovak: ''Koruna československá'', at times ''Koruna česko-slovenská''; ''koruna'' means ''crown'') was the currency of Czechoslovakia from 10 April 1919 to 14 March 1939, and from 1 November 1945 to 7 F ...

. Measured in in length, it was opened in

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Fe ...

during the visit of Czechoslovakian president Edvard Beneš to Uzhhorod. The bridge was named after

Tomas Masaryk Tomas may refer to: People * Tomás (given name), a Spanish, Portuguese, and Gaelic given name * Tomas (given name), a Swedish, Dutch, and Lithuanian given name * Tomáš, a Czech and Slovak given name * Tomas (surname), a French and Croatian surna ...

, on a decision that was adapted back in

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be ...

. With the occupation of Uzhhorod by the Hungarian troops in 1938, the bridge was stripped of its name and was called simply as Great Bridge. That name stayed until after fall of the Soviet Union. In October 1944 the withdrawing Hungarian and German forces blown almost all the bridges in Uzhhorod into air. After World War II, the Great Bridge as the others were rebuilt by

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...

n- born German Engineer Janos (Hans) Schlesinger. After moving to the Soviet Union Schlesinger adopted Russian name Ivan under which he was buried.Literati, T.
Lost Uzhhorod: how was rebuilt the Masaryk's Bridge (Втрачений Ужгород: як відбудовували міст Масарика)
'' "Prozahid". 26 November 2015 Beside the Great Bridge, Uzhhorod has another no less important bridge connecting the city's Teatralna ploshcha (Theatric Square) and ploshcha Sándora Petőfi ( Sándor Petőfi Square). The bridge existed as wooden until the great city flood of

1893 Events January–March * January 2 – Webb C. Ball introduces railroad chronometers, which become the general railroad timepiece standards in North America. * Mark Twain started writing Puddn'head Wilson. * January 6 – Th ...

which destroyed it. Yet it was relatively quickly rebuilt as iron bridge in 1896-1897. In

1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...

, over the bridge stretched a bus route of the first city bus. The bridge also was destroyed during World War II. It was quickly replaced by Red Army with a pontoon bridge becoming the only active road bridge in the city with another rail bridge not far up the stream. Later it was replaced with a temporary wooden bridge structure, until finally Schlesinger built the current long bridge which became exclusively pedestrian and one of the city's landmarks.

Gallery

File:Мост через реку УЖ - panoramio.jpg, Tomas Masaryk (Great) Bridge File:Пішохідний міст - panoramio.jpg, Pedestrian bridge File:Мост через реку - panoramio.jpg, Bridge between Avanhard Stadium and Bozdos Park File:Uzhhorod WDL10046.png, The pedestrian bridge before World War II

References

External links

* Turianytsia, Yu.
Bridges of Uzhhorod: less known pages (Мости Ужгорода: маловідомі сторінки)
'. Zakarpattia online. 7 October 2009.
Great bridge in Uzhhorod on old postcards (photo) (Великий міст в Ужгороді на старих листівках (ФОТО))
prozak.info. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bridges In Uzhhorod Uzhhorod Transport in Uzhhorod Lists of buildings and structures in Ukraine Ukraine transport-related lists Uzhhorod