When Uzhhorod lights up: the romance of city lights

There is such a moment in Uzhgorod - when the day gives way to the night, when the sun has already hidden behind the roofs, but the sky is still bright. It is then, one by one, that the street lamps begin to light up. The first lights appear on the embankment, then on the Korzo, near the town hall, on the bridge over the Uzh.

Daytime Uzhgorod is a sunny embankment, friendly cafes, groups of tourists. Evening Uzhgorod is completely different, it becomes softer, more intimate, more mysterious with the echo of centuries, memories of thousands of evenings spent under the lamps.

Street lamps in Uzhgorod are not just lighting, they are part of the soul of the city, its character, its history between light and shadow.

A city that shines with memories

The first street lamps appeared in Uzhgorod in the middle of the 19th century. Back then, they were gas lamps - small lights that changed the life of the city. They allowed us to walk longer, meet in the evening, and return home without fear of the dark. And light became a symbol of safety and comfort.

Over the years, gas lighting was replaced by electric lighting, lanterns became more modern, but their role remained the same - they created an atmosphere. And today, walking along Korzo, the Independence Embankment or the old streets near the castle, you can feel this special Uzhgorod magic - a warm yellow light that gently envelops the facades, paving stones, and trees.

Lantern as a symbol

Uzhgorod even has its own symbol - a monument to the Lantern Maker. This is the one who "lit up the city" every evening and extinguished it in the morning.

A man with a long stick walked the streets of Uzhgorod. He stopped at each lamppost, opened the glass doors, and lit kerosene or gas.

It was a leisurely ritual. The lantern maker knew every lantern, every street. He witnessed evening walks of couples in love, returning home after a long day, secret meetings, was the guardian of the evening city.

The profession disappeared with the advent of electricity. But the memory of it lives on in the design of lanterns - many of them still have the same glass doors that opened every evening over a hundred years ago.

At the intersection of Korzo and Voloshyn streets, on the wall of a house, there is a bronze mini-sculpture depicting an Uzhhorod lamplighter on a ladder who turns on the light. This is a kind of gratitude of the city to those who brought light to its streets and peace to the lives of its citizens every evening.

Where are the most beautiful lanterns in Uzhgorod

The linden alley, stretching along the Uzh River, at night turns into a set for the most romantic movie. The lanterns here are special:

• tall, curved, with a greenish cast iron glow;
• stylized as old gas lamps;
• soft yellowish light that does not hit the eyes;
• arranged so as to illuminate both the alley and the water.

When the lanterns are lit, a chain of lights is simultaneously created, reflected in the water of the Uzh. Old linden trees cast bizarre shadows on the cobblestones. If there is a magical place in Uzhgorod, it is here.

Town Hall Square is the oldest part of Uzhgorod. And the lanterns here are appropriate - cast iron, massive, with elements of Austro-Hungarian design. Each lantern is like a small work of art. Forging, ornaments, city coats of arms. They don't just shine - they tell a story.

The pedestrian street Korzo is the most beloved street of the townspeople. The lanterns here are low, with a warm light, created for leisurely walks. In the evening, the light from the lanterns mixes with the light of shop windows and cafes, which creates a particularly cozy atmosphere of a small European town.

The bridge over the Uzh, leading to the castle, has its lanterns of an old design with forged elements. At night, there is a special magic here, which is created by the dark silhouette of the castle against the sky and the light of the lanterns reflected in the dark water of the river.

Uzhgorod lanterns are a light that calls for an evening walk, invites you to stop by a cafe or gallery, sit on a bench in a square and simply watch how the city comes to life among the cobblestones, old stones, walls, in the shade of lindens and chestnuts. It is this light that creates the warm, cozy atmosphere that tourists and locals love to return to here.