Three medieval castles of the "country of the elves" of Belarus, which are worth seeing with your own eyes

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

It is not for nothing that romantic natures are considered the country of elves. Friendly people, dense forests, bright lakes and, of course, magical-looking castles, from which a long and complex history of the region breathes. Some of them were built as fortresses, others as private estates, and each has its own charm. Perhaps the three most worth visiting castles in Belarus are the Brest Fortress, the Mir Castle and the Ruzhany Palace.

Mir Castle

Although the castle was built in the late Middle Ages, it has nothing to do with the wars that were constantly in full swing at that time and was erected in one of the most peaceful places then, simply for the prestige of the owner. Nevertheless, if necessary, the castle could well be a military fortress. Its owner remembered the volatility of fate and laid the walls thicker. Provided for a castle and his own prison.

Initially, the building belonged to the Ilyinichs, but at the end of the 16th century it passed to one of the noble families of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania - the Radziwills. They surrounded the castle with a moat, so that it became possible to get into it only through the drawbridge. At the same time, the owners laid out a garden in the then fashionable Italian style.

The moat did not save the castle from capture and plundering by the Cossacks in the middle of the 17th century, but the owners were able to return and restore it a little later.

In the 19th century, the castle changed several owners, until at the very end it ended up in the hands of Prince Nikolai Svyatopolk-Mirsky, a Russian general from the cavalry. He had his own vision of the necessary changes. He cut down the garden and dug a pond in its place, and set up a distillery next to the castle.

During the war, the Germans used the castle to house Jews and prisoners of war. Immediately after the war, homeless families lived in it for about ten years. All this led to the partial destruction of the interiors.

Now the castle is not just open to the public: it houses a hotel, hosts knightly festivals, concerts, exhibitions, scientific conferences. So you can always combine pleasure with pleasure and visit one of the festivals or concerts and at the same time examine the stone legend.

Brest Fortress

In the Middle Ages, a castle was built on the banks of the Bug and Mukhavets, which survived many wars and sieges until it was destroyed in the eighteenth century. Before the war with Napoleon, Russian generals Sukhtelen and Barclay de Tolly suggested that the Russian government rebuild a fortress on the site and base of the castle, but in fact this project was taken up only under Nicholas I. The preserved bastion fortifications of the castle became part of the new fortress.

The main construction was completed by 1842. The fortress entered the defense line built by the Russian government taking into account the problems and omissions in the last war with Napoleon. Even one fortress could seriously delay the advance of the enemy army in those days: it was dangerous to pass by and leave an entire garrison in the rear. Every fortress had to be besieged.

During the Soviet-Polish war in 1919, Poles kept prisoners of war in a camp. Moreover, due to the disgusting epidemiological situation, more than a thousand prisoners died. Then it could still shock people, and a commission from the Polish Sejm, having submitted a report on the conditions for keeping prisoners, achieved an improvement in these conditions. But in 1920 the prisoners were freed by the Red Army, having managed to briefly occupy the fortress.

Until the Second World War, the fortress belonged to the Poles. On September 2, the Germans began to bomb it. For two weeks the garrison defended itself until it became clear that resistance was useless. The head of the garrison, Plisovsky, gave the order to leave the fortress, and the Germans occupied it. On September 22, they handed over the fortress to the Soviet Union.

On June 22, 1945 at 4.15 the Germans opened artillery fire on the fortifications. Many soldiers and officers were killed, warehouses, water pipes were destroyed, communications were interrupted. The Germans broke into the fortress, breaking the resistance of the garrison into several centers. Two rifle divisions managed to get out of the occupied fortress, the rest (about 9,000 servicemen) could only continue the battle in unfavorable conditions.

By the evening of June 24, the defenders of the fortress managed to concentrate in the Citadel and the Kobrin fortification. In fact, they pulled back the forces of the Germans, because it seemed that there could be no question of inflicting serious damage on the enemy army. The organized defense held out until the evening of June 29. For some time after that, individual soldiers and small groups of military personnel continued to resist. The garrison of the fortress managed to inflict damage on the German troops, amounting to 5% of all Wehrmacht losses in the first week of the war.

At various times, part of the Brest Fortress was used by the Russian and Soviet authorities as well as a prison. They kept Polish rebels, Ukrainian and Belarusian nationalists, Polish officers who did not surrender in 1939. The remnants of the prison were demolished in 1955.

Now the Brest Fortress is a memorial complex. In addition to the actual monuments to the defenders of the fortress, you can visit the Museum of Defense and the ruins of the White Palace, as well as lay flowers on the grave with the remains of 850 defenders.

Ruzhany Palace

The famous Polish diplomat of the Middle Ages, Lev Sapega, built a fortress with three towers at the very beginning of the 17th century. Initially, there was nothing remarkable about the fortress (except for the name of the owner). However, at the very end of the 18th century, one of the descendants of Lev Sapieha hired a Saxon architect to turn the small and boring castle literally into a palace. A theater was also built near the palace and an English-style park was laid out. The owner also collected a real art gallery and the largest library of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the castle.

After the Polish uprising of 1831, in which the Sapieha participated, the palace was seized from them by the Russian government and leased out for a weaving factory. Nevertheless, the castle remained intact for a long time - until a fire accidentally started by factory laundresses in 1914. They tried to restore the palace, but military actions during the Great Patriotic War finally turned it into ruins. In this form, the Sapieha castle stood for a very long time.

About ten years ago, the government of Belarus began to restore the architectural monument. To date, part of the palace has been restored; inside there is a museum dedicated to the old owners of the castle and the history of Ruzhany. Local lovers of local lore conduct impressive excursions. In addition, you can order a theatrical wedding and formal marriage. The unrestored part of the palace is also worth seeing - it is impressive even in the form of ruins. The main thing is to be careful.

By the way, according to legend, one of the Belarusian castles was built on human sacrifice, although in Christian times … Let's hope that most of the castles are delivered without human bones in the walls!