UKRDOUG Castle Tours - Ploteni Palace Traditional Cache
UKRDOUG Castle Tours - Ploteni Palace
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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Ploteni Palace serves today as a children's art center.
Near the cache is a school. Please do not search for cache if students are present. Wait ten minutes until they head off to their next class.
Velyki Lazy is a village 5.25 miles north of Uzhhorod, the administrative center of Zakarpattia Oblast. The village has a population of 1426 people.
People have lived here since the 5th Millennium BC as part of the Tisza Culture known for their linear pottery they left behind. The modern village today was founded in the mid-13th century by the Hungarian noble family Kholmets. Its first historical mention was in the early 14th century when the village was called Galambhaza (Pigeon Settlement) then under the rule of the Drugeth noble family. The name was changed to Hegymászó Szőlő (Climbing Vines) in the late 14th century and then Felsevlaz (Upper Meadow) by the 16th century. The name changes tell the story of how it started out as a communication center, then became a vineyard, and finally a community of 24 peasant families who were farming the area.
Serfdom was abolished in Hungary in 1785. Two years later a monk Isidor was accompanying eight former serf families consisting of 52 people to start a new life in Ungvár (now Uzhhorod). As they passed through Felsevlaz the eight families fell in love with the upper meadow and petitioned authorities in Ungvár to settle there, which they were granted under the conditions they would join and pay tithes to the Greek Catholic Church. They would change the name of the settlement to Nagy Laz (Great Meadow) which is Velyki Lazy in the Ukrainian language.
In the 19th century, Nandor Ploteni built a powerful wine and alcohol empire from his tracts in Velyki Lazy. As a young man he was inspired by the Hungarian musician Eduard Remini to learn to play the violin. He became an accomplished violinist rising to the first violinist of the Hungarian National Opera and a renowned composer. He was elevated to the title of count in 1870 and at the age of 52 built a small but exquisite palace in Velyki Lazy. Ploteni hosted several famous musicians in his palace such as Franz Liszt, Johannes Brahms, and Eduard Remini. His palace also housed a famous art collection which has just recently emerged on the market after disappearing for 75 years, stolen by Nazi occupiers.
After the end of World War II, the Soviet Union confiscated all the properties of the Ploteni family and nationalized their winery. Count Janos, the son of Nandor, and his wife were consequently homeless. The chief winemaker had pity on them and allowed them to live out their remaining lives in the attic of his humble cottage. Upon Janos’ death his only possessions were a table, a chair, a candlestick, dishes, an old photo album of all his memories, a diary, and one beaded ornament. All of these are now on display in the village museum. Janos and his wife were buried in the cemetery of the village Church of the Ascension. Their palace was first turned into a hospital, then a school. When the modern school was built next door, the palace became a Communist Pioneer Camp and then the village council building. In 2004, the palace was turned into the Uzhhorod Regional Center for Children’s Creativity where children come to learn many aspects of the arts.
Today, only eight ethnic Hungarians are left in Velyki Lazy, displaced by Ukrainians that moved in during the Soviet Union era. 94% of the population are Ukrainian with another 5% Ruthenian. The remaining 1% consists of Russians, Hungarians, and Slovakians.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Oruvaq gur cnynpr va gur jnyy. Ybbx sbe ybbfr fgbarf ba gbc.