Muravanka Fortified Church was built between 1516 and 1542. Together with earlier Suprasl' and Synkavichy churches it represents an original class of church-fortresses that appeared in Belarus in 15th-16th centuries.These are compact in plan, rectangular buildings flanked in the corners with towers. The top of the walls are fortified with mashykooli and shooting windows. There were cellars in the basement with water and food for the sieged defenders.
References:The Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg is situated in a strategic area on a rocky spur overlooking the Upper Rhine Plain, it was used by successive powers from the Middle Ages until the Thirty Years' War when it was abandoned. From 1900 to 1908 it was rebuilt at the behest of the German kaiser Wilhelm II. Today it is a major tourist site, attracting more than 500,000 visitors a year.
The first records of a castle built by the Hohenstaufens date back to 1147. The fortress changed its name to Koenigsburg (royal castle) around 1157. The castle was handed over to the Tiersteins by the Habsburgs following its destruction in 1462. They rebuilt and enlarged it, installing a defensive system designed to withstand artillery fire.
The fortification work accomplished over the 15th century did not suffice to keep the Swedish artillery at bay during the Thirty Years War, and the defences were overrun.