Lutsk castle

Starting from the 11th century , the Old Russian Lutsk detinets existed at the site of the Lubart castle. It was first mentioned in the annals under 1085 , when Lutsk was already a fortified point that had withstood the previously 6-month siege of Boleslav the Bold. The wooden detinet had several towers: Departure, Styrovaya (over the Styr river), Vladycha. The detinets withstood several sieges, but in 1261 was destroyed at the request of the Mongol military commander Burundai .

After Volyn captured the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the construction of the Lubart Castle (Upper Castle) began in the 1350s, which was mostly completed in the 1430s, although some elements (for example, the height of the towers) still changed over the following centuries. Roundabout castle began to be rebuilt in brick since 1502. Since the time of construction, the castles were the residence of the Grand Duke, and after the formation of the Kingdom - the residence of the royal power, where the political, administrative, judicial, defensive, religious functions of the center of the province of Volyn were concentrated.

In 1429, a congress of European monarchs was held in the princely palace, which was located in the Upper Castle, which aimed to solve the political and economic issues of central and eastern Europe and to solve the question of the coronation of Vytautas . Castles were repeatedly attacked. So, in 1431, during the Lutsk War, castles withstood the siege of the troops of political opponents of the great Lithuanian prince Svidrigailo . In 1595, the castle was taken by the military units of Severin Nalivaiko .

On the territory of the castles there were two departments - the Latin Holy Trinity and the Orthodox John the Theologian. In them, in addition, meetings and seymics of the Volyn nobility of both faiths took place. Different types of courts operated in the castle, which dealt with issues of the city and regional level. In a separate period, a special court operated in the castle - the Lutsk Tribunal, to which several voivodships were subordinate.

In the XVIII century, the castle began to lose its functions, which was associated with social transformations of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth . The roundabout castle ceased to exist. In 1795, as a result of the third division of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Volyn lands together with Lutsk became part of the Russian Empire. During the civil war (from 1917 to 1920) Lutsk repeatedly passed from hand to hand. From 1921 to 1939 the city was part of Poland. The upper castle ceased to exist. There are ruins that began to be protected by law only at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. In March 1921, Lutsk became the capital of the new Volyn Voivodeship. After the formation of the voivodship, the city immediately rebuilt after serious military destruction.

Throughout the 20th century, the Upper Castle and the remains of Okolnik were restored and open to the public. At the beginning of the XXI century, a small piece of Okolnoy Castle was restored.

Significant events associated with the castle of Lubart:

• 1349 - Polish King Casimir III unsuccessfully besieges Lutsk
• 1429 - during 7 weeks a congress of European monarchs took place in the castle (Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, Polish King Jagiello , Danish King Eric , Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas , Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily II , Grand Master of Prussia, Papal Legate, Ambassadors from the Byzantine Emperor John Pope , Crimean Khan and Volosh Voivode)
• 1431 - unsuccessful siege by the Polish army led by Jagiello , on August 26, peace was signed between Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania .
• 1432 - Jagiello, king of Poland, granted Magdeburg Law to Lutsk.
• 1436 - Lutsk withstands the siege of the Lithuanian troops of the Grand Duke Sigismund .

In 2011, according to the results of the " Seven Wonders of Ukraine " campaign, Upper Castle took first place ^[2] .

In terms of the castle has an irregular shape close to the triangle, which was due to the terrain.

The perimeter of the defense walls, with towers at the corners, walked along the edge of the hill. On the west side was the entrance to the castle, passing through a drawbridge and a gate tower. The height of the tower, originally three-tiered, was increased by two more tiers in the 16th century, and at the beginning of the 17th century its top was crowned with an attic. On the main facade of the Entrance Tower, pay attention to the wide and narrow walled arches above the modern opening: these are the old entrance and entrance (gate) to the castle, which were equipped with drawbridges.

The south-eastern corner tower, square in plan, located above the Styr River (Ukrainian Styr), and therefore called Styrovaya, originally also had three tiers. In the XVI century, another tier was added to it, and at the beginning of the XVII century - the crowning attic . The height of the Sovereign Tower, located on the northern corner of the fortress, was also increased by one tier.

The defensive walls of the castle in the 15th century are being modernized and adapted to the use of firearms. In some areas, the height of the walls was increased, and the openings of the roof were walled up. They were replaced by two or three rows of loopholes, access to which was carried out through wooden covered galleries. The entire castle complex was built of brick.

To this day, the prince’s house, which once adjoined the southern section of the walls, has not been preserved. In its place in 1789 , when the castle during the partition of Poland (1772, 1793, 1795) lost its defense significance, the building of the so-called "gentry (noble) house" was built. It was a one-story building, covered by a sloping roof with creases . Also destroyed was the cathedral of St. John.

At the beginning of the 19th century, a bishop's palace in the classicist style was built in the northern part of the castle.

Okolny Castle had an area of ​​about 6 hectares and was surrounded partially by a brick wall, and partially by a wooden wall built from log cabins-gorodny (there were 69 in total). The wall of the roundabout castle began from the Upper Castle Styrovaya Tower, and ended at the Upper Castle Gate Tower, had eight towers: four wooden and four stone (today only one stone tower and fragments of walls have survived).

• About the bricks of Lutsk castle
• Short tour of Lutsk Castle