Pischalauski Castle, Minsk, Belarus

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.

Castles and fortifications in Belarus

User Reviews

Andrey Fio (3 months ago)
It's a pity to see how the architectural monument is being destroyed. But as long as it is in demand in its current quality, and no progress is visible in changing the current status of this object, it will continue to collapse. The current owners, and the owners of these owners, do not care about his condition.

Mayura Foxy (4 months ago)
To restore, to bring a marafet, to lighten, to green, to remove the detention center and to make a good tourist facility.

Aryna Karshunova (12 months ago)
We came for a picnic in honor of political prisoner Dmitry Furmanov, we sit at night, very picturesque. 10/10 No one has been arrested yet.

Alex Kotrankov (14 months ago)
Wonderful place to spend a joint holiday with friends. A wide selection of apartments: from a single punishment cell to 24 local rooms in a hostel style (although in the tourist season the administration can accommodate up to 36 guests in a 24-bed room). The high moral principles of managers do not welcome cohabitation of married couples, and even more so couples out of wedlock. But there are exceptions to each rule, so in some progressive numbers you can find a roommate of your gender. Stylishly designed showers will return you to the atmosphere of the Soviet Union. A comfortable font for six to twelve “nipples” will give freshness, but the truth is only once a week. Three meals a day on the “almost all inclusive” system will surprise you with a variety of dishes, as well as introduce you to such delicacies as the “Mass grave” consisting of heads and bones of herring. And on Friday morning you will receive a compliment from the chef: an exquisite pea and pearl barley porridge, the taste and aroma of which will haunt you even after years. For those who are following the figure, the local low-calorie diet will be a pleasant bonus. A variety of walking yards will pleasantly surprise you. There are, like ordinary crap general, as well as elite, for 2-4 guests (pictured), in the "female building". Guests will like board games: bread chess and backgammon, as well as a wide selection of in-chamber quests, such as “weaving a horse”, “establishing a wet connection”, as well as epistolary workshops with the most respected guests. You will never forget the time spent here.

Tze Shiuan Kong (17 months ago)
pivkowsku castle was great!!! very rich history and culture behind the 700 year old castle. it still looks like in great condition! very accessible!! truly a unique architecture from normal castles in europe

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Photo from Flickr, copyright Varvara_R

Historic Site of the week

Trinity Sergius Lavra

The Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius is a world famous spiritual centre of the Russian Orthodox Church and a popular site of pilgrimage and tourism. It is the most important working Russian monastery and a residence of the Patriarch. This religious and military complex represents an epitome of the growth of Russian architecture and contains some of that architecture’s finest expressions. It exerted a profound influence on architecture in Russia and other parts of Eastern Europe.

The Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, was founded in 1337 by the monk Sergius of Radonezh. Sergius achieved great prestige as the spiritual adviser of Dmitri Donskoi, Great Prince of Moscow, who received his blessing to the battle of Kulikov of 1380. The monastery started as a little wooden church on Makovets Hill, and then developed and grew stronger through the ages.

Over the centuries a unique ensemble of more than 50 buildings and constructions of different dates were established. The whole complex was erected according to the architectural concept of the main church, the Trinity Cathedral (1422), where the relics of St. Sergius may be seen.

In 1476 Pskovian masters built a brick belfry east of the cathedral dedicated to the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles. The church combines unique features of early Muscovite and Pskovian architecture. A remarkable feature of this church is a bell tower under its dome without internal interconnection between the belfry and the cathedral itself.

The Cathedral of the Assumption, echoing the Cathedral of the Assumption in the Moscow Kremlin, was erected between 1559 and 1585. The frescoes of the Assumption Cathedral were painted in 1684. At the north-western corner of the Cathedral, on the site of the western porch, in 1780 a vault containing burials of Tsar Boris Godunov and his family was built.

In the 16th century the monastery was surrounded by 6 meters high and 3,5 meters thick defensive walls, which proved their worth during the 16-month siege by Polish-Lithuanian invaders during the Time of Trouble. They were later strengthened and expanded.

After the Upheaval of the 17th century a large-scale building programme was launched. At this time new buildings were erected in the north-western part of the monastery, including infirmaries topped with a tented church dedicated to Saints Zosima and Sawatiy of Solovki (1635-1637). Few such churches are still preserved, so this tented church with a unique tiled roof is an important contribution to the Lavra.

In the late 17th century a number of new buildings in Naryshkin (Moscow) Baroque style were added to the monastery.

Following a devastating fire in 1746, when most of the wooden buildings and structures were destroyed, a major reconstruction campaign was launched, during which the appearance of many of the buildings was changed to a more monumental style. At this time one of the tallest Russian belfries (88 meters high) was built.

In the late 18th century, when many church lands were secularized, the chaotic planning of the settlements and suburbs around the monastery was replaced by a regular layout of the streets and quarters. The town of Sergiev Posad was surrounded by traditional ramparts and walls. In the vicinity of the monastery a number of buildings belonging to it were erected: a stable yard, hotels, a hospice, a poorhouse, as well as guest and merchant houses. Major highways leading to the monastery were straightened and marked by establishing entry squares, the overall urban development being oriented towards the centrepiece - the Ensemble of the Trinity Sergius Lavra.

In 1993, the Trinity Lavra was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

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