13 magnets of Transcarpathia: Volovets district

Volovets district is beautiful with its incredible mountain views and unique wooden temples. You must have heard about the Holy Spirit Church (XVIII century) in the village of Huklyvy, mountains Temnatik (1343 m), Plai (1330 m) and Velyky Verkh (1598 m), as well as the Veretsky Pass (838 m). All of that is located here. But as the magnet number 9 for visiting Transcarpathia, we have chosen the Arpad Line Bunker, the part of it that is located in the village of Verkhnya Hrabivnytsia in Volovets district and is a real miracle of military engineering.

The Arpad Line Bunker is considered to be the largest bunker in Ukraine since the Second World War; according to various data, its length was 600-750 km, and it was laid along the Carpathian ridge. The structure was built by Hungarians to protect the Carpathians from the Soviet Army that was trying to force the Hungarians out of the region. The main nodes were as follows:

• Keresmesz direction (Yasinya).
• Uzhotsky Pass.
• Mukachevo direction. The villages of Maidan – Volovets – Nyzhni Vorota – Verkhnya Hrabivnytsia – Uklyn.
• Khust direction. The villages of Ust-Chorna – Lopukhovo – Kolochava – Synevyr – Mizhhirya.

The part, that is located in Verkhnya Hrabivnytsia, extends for about 1 km about 30-50 meters deep underground (the thickness of the walls is 1 meter of concrete). It was a whole underground world with warehouses, a hospital, barracks, and ventilation shafts. The facility was built in complete secrecy from October 1939 to 1944. The main labor force was the soldiers of the penal battalions of the Hungarian and Romanian armies.

But despite all the efforts and funds spent on its construction, the defense structure was held only 2 weeks. On October 16, 1944, the bunker surrendered. After that, it was not used for a long time, and was subsequently managed by the Mukachevo border guard detachment. After the facility was transferred to the balance sheet of the village council in 1991, it began to decay. But there were enthusiasts, who did not let destroy the monument of history and initiated the restoration of the facility. And now, this is the most popular military attraction of the region and another reason to visit Transcarpathia.