Oleksandr Dzembas became the fourth Knight of the Order of Maria Theresa (PHOTOS)

Today, on May 2, the fourth ceremony of awarding of the Order of Maria Theresa for a significant contribution to the economic or cultural development of our region took place in Uzhgorod.

Traditionally, the descendants of the famous Empress – Sandor and Gertha-Margaret Habsburg-Lautringen – were present at the ceremony.  In addition, this year, a lot of guests from many European countries gathered in the park of Maria Theresa on Kapitulna street.

Usually organizers keep a veil of secrecy over the name of the award recipient until the last moment.  Therefore, for many people, it was a pleasant surprise that this year the Order of Maria Theresa went to Oleksandr Dzembas – a well-known historian, archaeologist, organizer of a powerful volunteer movement, who tries to preserve one of the main and most recognizable gems of Transcarpathia – the Nevytsky castle.

The award recipient himself noted that he regards it as the achievement of the five thousand volunteers from all over Ukraine and many other countries who have been working for the preservation of the unique historical object for almost twenty years, carrying out historical research, rescuing the old the walls of the Nevytsky castle from destruction by time and people’s indifference. 

We sincerely congratulate Oleksandr Dzembas on the well-deserved award and wish him to finally overcome the wall of mismanagement, incompetence, indifference, which he has been fighting for decades in order to save the Nevytsky castle.