Castles and fortifications in Belarus
Nesvizh Castle
Nesvizh or Niasvizh Castle is a residential castle of the Radziwiłł family. The estate was owned by the Radziwiłł magnate family from 1533, when it was awarded to Mikołaj Radziwiłł and his brother Jan Radziwiłł after the extinction of the Kiszka family. Since the Radziwills were one of the most important and wealthy clans of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, it was there that the Lithuanian Archive was moved in 1551. ...
Founded: 1582 |
Location:
Nesvizh, Belarus
Mir Castle
The Mir (Mirsky) Castle Complex was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2000. Duke Yuri Ilyinich began construction of the castle near the village of Mir after the turn of the 16th century in the Gothic architectural style. Five towers surrounded the courtyard of the citadel, the walls of which formed a square of 75 meters on each side. In 1568, when the Ilyinich dynasty died out, the Mir Castle passed into the hand ...
Founded: c. 1520 |
Location:
Mir, Belarus
Brest Fortress
Brest Fortress, formerly known as Brest-Litovsk Fortress, is a 19th-century Russian fortress. It is one of the most important Soviet World War II war monuments commemorating the Soviet resistance against the German invasion on June 22, 1941 (Operation Barbarossa). Following the war, in 1965 the title Hero-Fortress was given to the Fortress to commemorate the defence of the frontier stronghold during the first weeks of the ...
Founded: 1830s |
Location:
Brest, Belarus
Old Hrodna Castle
The Old Hrodna Castle (also known as the Hrodna Upper Castle and Bathory"s Castle) dates from the 11th century as the seat of a dynasty of Black Ruthenian rulers, descended from a younger son of Yaroslav the Wise of Kiev. The 13th-century keep of the castle belonged to a type of Belarusian defensive tower represented by the Tower of Kamyanyets. Vytautas the Great added five Brick Gothic towers in 1391-98, transformin ...
Founded: 11th century |
Location:
Hrodna, Belarus
New Hrodna Castle
The New Castle in Hrodna, Belarus is the royal palace of Augustus III of Poland and Stanisław August Poniatowski where the infamous Grodno Sejm took place in 1793. The royal residence was built on the high bank of the Neman River at a little distance from the Old Hrodna Castle which had suffered great dilapidation in the aftermath of the Swedish occupation in the early 18th century. The two castles are joined by a 3 ...
Founded: 1793 |
Location:
Hrodna, Belarus
Halshany Castle
Halshany or Holszany Castle is the ruined residence of the Sapieha magnate family and was the seat of the one of the largest land estates in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Paweł Stefan Sapieha commissioned its construction and it was erected circa 1610 to replace the older castle, built by of the Holszanski princely family, of whom Sapiehas were descendants and heirs. Also known as the Black Castle (although it is bu ...
Founded: 1610 |
Location:
Halshany, Belarus
Lida Castle
Lida Castle was one of several citadels erected by Grand Duke Gediminas of Lithuania in the early 14th century to defend his lands against the expansion of the Teutonic Knights. Other links in this chain of defense included Hrodna, Navahrudak, Kreva, Medininkai, and Trakai. The modern town of Lida, Belarus grew up around this castle. The site selected for the castle is naturally defended by the Kamenka and Lida rivers to ...
Founded: 1323 |
Location:
Lida, Belarus
Kamianiec Tower
The Tower of Kamianiec, often called by the misnomer the White Tower, is the main landmark of the town of Kamianiec in Belarus. Erected in 1271–1289 by the architect Oleksa as a frontier stronghold on the northern border of the principality of Volhynia, it is the only such tower remaining to this day in the area. The first record in the chronicles about the foundation of the tower dates from 1276. The advantageous l ...
Founded: 1271-1289 |
Location:
Kamianiec, Belarus
Lubcha Castle
Lubcha Castle was a residential castle of the Radziwill family on the left bank of the Neman River at Lubcha near Navahradak. The castle was founded in 1581 as a fortified residence of Jan Kiszka, a powerful Calvinist magnate. It had timber walls, a single stone tower, and was surrounded by moats on three sides, the fourth side protected by the river. Lubcha later passed to Janusz Radziwiłł, Great Hetman of Lithuania, w ...
Founded: 1581 |
Location:
Lubcha, Belarus
Pischalauski Castle
Pischalauski Castle is also sometimes called the Belarusian Bastille. The castle was built in 1825. It formerly served as a prison. The architect was named Pishchala. The castle was the site of the imprisonment of Belarusian writer Yakub Kolas from 1908 to 1911. A portion of one the castle"s four towers collapsed in April 2008.
Founded: 1825 |
Location:
Minsk, Belarus