What is the largest building built by Lubart in Lutsk. Lutsk Castle or Lubart Castle

- This Lubart's Castle or Lutsk Castle.

If you have limited time, then our advice is to put visiting this attraction first.

The entrance tower is the first thing that catches your eye when approaching the castle.

Lubart's castle is impressive primarily because it is practically not destroyed. All elements - towers, walls, everything is present and, although it has been partially restored, most of it was originally intact.

Only the old entrance to the castle, which consisted of a gate and a wicket, has been laid. They are clearly visible in the photograph of the Entrance Tower. The current, permanently equipped entrance is slightly lower.

The fact that the image of Lubart's Castle, or rather its Entrance Tower, is on a 200 UAH bill. It was a revelation for me. But, having taken out this money and looking at the drawing, we realized that “yes.” It’s not for nothing that this fortress claimed to be one of the seven wonders of Ukraine.

If you take 200 hryvnia out of your pocket, you can compare the drawing with life.

View of the Entrance (Gate) Tower from the castle grounds.

The castle itself is quite small. Apart from the towers and defensive walls between them, there are not many buildings in the castle. With a slow old man's step, you can walk around the castle grounds in five to ten minutes.
The distance from the Entrance Tower to the opposite wall of the castle, to the farthest point, is about 110 meters.

Although now the castle territory is empty, before, according to the guide, there were many wooden buildings for household purposes. Now, as you can see in the photo, there are only a couple of buildings, a bell tower and a covered excavation area for an ancient church.

Schematic representation of Lutsk Castle.
Three towers stand at the corners of a conventional triangle.

On the left is the Bishop's House, on the right under the roof are archaeological excavations of the Church of St. John the Evangelist from the 12th century.

There is also a place on the castle grounds designated as a well.

From a distance, without coming close to this building, you might think that now we will see it and look into it.
But, alas, here is only an imitation of this important element of any castle. Without a well, any fortress could not defend itself for long and withstand a full-fledged siege. When a well, for some reason, could not be built, the inhabitants of the castle came out of the situation with the help of a large container into which rainwater from the roofs was collected.

But in the summer, when rains were rare, the siege of the fortress by the enemy, which was based on isolating the castle from external supplies of food and water, could well be successful.

In the Lutsk Castle, instead of all this, there is simply a pump from which water flows and a bucket hangs, saying: There was a well in this place, I swear by my mother. But let's say in Mukachevo(which according to legend was dug by the devil) or Kamenets-Podilskyi castle, the wells are real, covered with a large grate, so that curious sightseers do not periodically fall into them.

But, despite the small territory of the castle, there is room in it to get out of breath. To do this, you need to climb to the upper platform of the Overhead Tower without stopping.

Let's try to climb to a height of 27 meters, accompanied by a guide (it won't work any other way).

Narrow spiral staircases twist you as you climb from floor to floor. Such a small width was made specifically so that when attacked by an enemy who advances while climbing the stairs, he could not receive help from a comrade walking behind him. And those who defended could replace each other, since they had room for maneuver - a slight expansion behind their backs.

The staircase in the tower of Lubart's castle, as in most castles, is twisted clockwise to make it as difficult as possible for attackers to effectively work with their striking (right) hand, as well as to defend themselves with a shield.

The steps of the tower are somewhat high even for people of modern height. But they were increased specifically during one of the reconstructions. But why, I don’t remember.

You cannot enter the tower on your own. Only with a guided tour.
Its cost is 50 hryvnia, but on the cash register window it is written so that you want to pay this amount per person. But this is not worth doing. This is the price for the work of one guide - whether you are alone or with a group of friends. That is, if you gather 50 people, it will only cost you a hryvnia. But will it be comfortable to jump in such a crowd along the narrow stairs of the tower? Well, taking a couple more people would be very correct. There, near the cash register, you could negotiate with those who wish and save a certain amount.

Just entrance to the castle, if you don’t take a tour, is paid: 10 hryvnia for an ordinary person, and even less for a pensioner or student.

From the top platform of the Gate Tower this is the view of the city.

On the other side of the upper platform of the Entry Tower there is a view of the Peter and Paul Cathedral.

Of the several excursions that are offered, we chose the Entry Tower with a climb to the upper observation deck and a visit to the interior, and I think we did the right thing. The excursion is quite interesting.

Over the course of different periods, this structure was completed and completed, and today the height of the tower is 27 meters.

Not very much, but all the neighboring buildings are not giants, so the view from the upper platform is quite good.

If you take binoculars with you, you can easily see almost the whole of Lutsk.

…In general, in any city it’s good to find a tall building somewhere in the center and look at everything from above. Very useful for understanding the spirit of the city.

In many Western cities this is the Town Hall building. For example, in .

The stone steps of the spiral staircase, as I already said, are quite high, but if you don’t set records, it’s not difficult to climb. On one of the floors there is a portrait of the great Prince of Lithuania Vytautas, who was the second owner of the castle after Lubart.

You can also see how the tower was built - some structural elements are deliberately exposed inside so that you can understand the construction technology.

History of Lubart's Castle.

Well, a little history of the Castle.

Facts taken from open sources. I haven’t done the research myself, so we will rely on the truthfulness and reliability of the information that has been repeatedly reproduced by various resources on the Internet.

As different sources write with one voice, and this means it’s true, Lutsk Castle has two more names: Lubart’s Castle and Upper Castle. There was also Lower (Roundabout) lock, adjacent to ours, but practically nothing remains of it. When we climbed to the very top of the Entrance Tower, the guide showed us the remains of the wall and the tower - all that remained of the Lower Castle. All this was lost among the buildings of the Old Town. Without knowing that these are the remains of a castle, you can pass by and not realize it.

The year of foundation of Lubart Castle can be considered 1340 (from the Nativity of Christ, of course), although in this strategically advantageous place in terms of defense, a wooden fortification had previously stood for two centuries. It, like the castle, served a defensive function.

Portrait of Grand Duke Vytautas on one of the floors of the Entrance Tower.

Meetings of the castle's "management" may have been held in this room.
The room is small, with benches and a panorama of the city.

Then the Grand Duke of Lutsk Lubart, rightly judging that stone fortifications were much more reliable than wooden ones, he began construction of the fortress, which lasted 40 long years.

Three towers were initially built: Entrance, Styrovaya, standing above the Styr River and Sovereign. Then the walls were completed, which consisted of large blocks of stone lined with brick. Egg white was added to the solution for strength.

Apparently, the recipe is quite reliable, since the walls stood for several centuries and withstood many sieges.

If you look at the castle from above, you can see that its shape resembles an irregular triangle. Its irregularity is not in the different lengths of the sides or the size of the angles, but in the curvature of the sides - they are slightly convex. Well, you know, this is the area. Relief.

The walls of the castle are quite massive - about three meters thick at the base, and just over a meter at the top.

After the advent of firearms, castle walls were adapted, as they now say, to this threat - the walls were strengthened and increased in height, “teeth” were sealed on them and loopholes were made.

All this made it possible to successfully withstand almost all sieges and repel all attacks that were in the long history of the castle.

After Lubart, the Grand Duke of Lithuania became the owner of the castle Vytautas, at which the famous congress of European monarchs took place in 1429.

Then the number of people who arrived at this “event” exceeded 15,000 people, which was much more than the population of Lutsk itself.

At the congress, important political and defensive issues were resolved, first of all, how to protect oneself from the Turkish threat.

On the agenda was an issue that is still relevant today. These are European unifications, primarily for the security of a common territory. Not everything worked out as we wanted, but this event remains in history.

Prince Svidrigailo after Vytautas's death he becomes the owner of the castle and finally completes its construction.

Also called Lutsk Castle fortress of three princes- Lyubart, Vytautas and Svidrigailo.

The Prince's Palace, which adjoined the Entrance Tower and had an entrance from it, has not survived to this day.

It was simply dismantled for building materials for the needs of the city. Later, partially using its foundation, a County Chancellery House.

It must be said, as noted above, that this is one of the best preserved castles in Ukraine. Moreover, it is quite ancient. Moreover, it is purely Lithuanian.

River Styr(Styr), which went around the castle and served as a natural obstacle to the attacking enemy, was considerably “pushed forward” in Soviet times. The drainage of the surrounding area of ​​the castle was necessary for the development of new houses and better transport links within the city.

Not everything worked out for the authorities as they wanted. And where it was not possible to completely dry the ground for construction, a park named after them was laid out. L.Ukrainka.

Perhaps this is the main thing I wanted to tell about the castle, and if anyone wants to know more, then you can spend a little more time and look for the necessary information on the Internet. And the best thing is to go to Lutsk, go to the Castle and listen to a tour and ask questions to the people who have studied the history of this building.

For starters, a few more photos about the Castle.

Styrova Tower of Lutsk Castle.

The Lord's Tower of the Lutsk Castle with the Bishop's House.

Foundation of the Styrovaya Tower.

Walls of Lutsk Castle.

The exit to the upper part of the Entrance Tower is covered with a wooden house like this.

The loopholes of the Lutsk Castle made it possible to defend approaches to the walls from different angles.

The rather large chess pieces in the castle courtyard were restored according to the found model.

Various types of throwing, “shooting” and other machines for defense and assault are presented on the territory of Lubart Castle.

Printing press near the Bishop's House on the castle grounds.

Brief description of Lutsk Castle at the entrance.

Lubart's Castle, or as it is also called Lutsk Castle (derived from the name of the city), is undoubtedly considered an unsurpassed architectural monument. One of the important reasons to consider the building unique is that the castle has survived, having existed for 7 centuries. At first, the castle served as the residence of the last Galician-Volyn prince Lyubart Gediminovich, as well as a reliable defense against enemies, but now it is the calling card of Lutsk. Which, together with other ancient buildings, is part of the state reserve “Old Lutsk”. In 2011, Lubart's Castle was recognized as the best in Ukraine.

There were many owners in the castle. But the fortress bears the name of Lubart, who came to our lands from the Principality of Lithuania. Having married the daughter of the Lutsk prince Andrei Agrippina, Lubart converted to Orthodoxy, being baptized with the name Dmitry. From Prince Andrei he inherited the Lutsk lands and began construction of the castle. This was facilitated by the transfer of the capital from the destroyed Vladimir to Lutsk. The followers of Lubert-Dmitry only improved the building, gradually replacing wood with stone and brick. Back in the 11th century, when the fortification was made of wood, after the conquest of the city by the Mongol-Tatars, Prince Vasilko Romanovich, at the request of the Khan's governor Burundai, dismantled the fortifications of the city.

Architecture of Lubart's castle

The founder of the castle, Prince Lubart, chose not only a picturesque, but also a reliable place for the future fortress - it appeared to replace the large ancient settlement of Lucesk (later Lutsk) above the Styr River. A little later, next to the main Upper Castle (the original name of Lubart's castle), the construction of the Okolny (Lower Castle) began. Lubart's successor, Prince Vytautas, was left with a half-wooden, half-stone fortress, so there was a lot of trouble strengthening the walls. Only one building has survived from the Okolny Castle - the tower of the Czartoryski princes. The upper castle with its three towers: Entrance, Styrova and Vladycha has been well preserved to this day.

According to legend, these three towers were supposed to symbolize Faith, Hope and Love. It is unknown who designed the castle and by whose hands it was built. However, the style of Gothic architecture corresponds to many castles in Eastern Europe of that time. The Lutsk fortress is similar to the castle in Czersk, in the Masovian Voivodeship of Poland.

Upper castle

The Upper Castle gave shelter to the legislative and executive authorities of the Volyn principality, and to the courts. Also in the center of the fortress courtyard, since the times of Ancient Rus', there was located the main religious shrine - the cathedral church of Ivan the Theologian. Thus, with its construction, the formation and establishment of the spiritual center of the country began. In the main shrine of the then Lutsk lands, the prince, in whose honor the castle was named, found eternal rest. Unfortunately, the Church of St. John the Evangelist could not withstand the devastating fire as a result of an enemy attack.

Entry tower

The entrance to the fortress, equipped with a suspension bridge and a gate tower, is located on the western side of the building. Currently, the tower attracts visitors with the opportunity to explore the incredibly picturesque city of Lutsk from a bird's eye view. The tower now displays copies of ancient paintings and engravings with a view of the castle. The oldest of them is a copy of an icon from the first half of the 18th century. Ancient maps of Volyn also hang here, and an exhibition of keys, locks, bottles, and toys will delight the eye.

Immediately behind the entrance is the princely palace. It has two floors, four rooms each (it has not survived to this day).
Today, the Entrance Tower attracts visitors with an exhibition of construction ceramics.

Styrovaya tower

The Styrovaya tower is located in the south-eastern part of the castle, above the Styr River, which is where its name comes from. The styrovaya tower was three floors high: the treasury was on the first, the prison on the second, and the library on the third. During the reign of Svidrigailo, the tower was significantly strengthened, modified and since then bore the name Svidrigailova.

Lord's Tower

The Lord's Tower was maintained at the expense of the ruler, hence the name. Today it houses a unique and only exhibition of bells - “Bells of Volyn, history and modernity”. It was opened in 1985. Researchers at the State Historical and Cultural Reserve, with great patience, collected a collection from the 17th - early centuries, drop by drop. XX century It contains a collection of bells, the largest difference between which is 345 years. The bell of 1647 is considered a real pearl of the collection, because most of the bells were cast into cannons during the Cossack wars of 1648-1654. That is, he still remembers the most majestic hetman, Bohdan Khmelnytsky. And the real value of the bell is that it was cast not in a factory, but by a single master and his apprentices, using technology known only to them. Also on display for visitors are various service bells, bells, and bells, which can now be seen either in a museum or perhaps in a film. There are also bells from the fire department, train station, post office, a small school bell and a bell from the river pier.

Also in the Lord's Tower is a collection of ancient weapons. Which will not leave any representative of the stronger sex indifferent.

It is also worth visiting the Art Museum, located since 1973 in the premises of the former gentry court and county chancellery on the castle grounds. Not only artists from many European countries: Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, France are presented to the attention of visitors, but also modern Ukrainian ones.

During the reign of Lubart-Dmitry, the Volyn principality was at war with the Polish king Casimir III the Great, and only after his death was Lubart able to continue the construction of the fortress. This is how the completely wooden Lower Castle (Okolny Castle) arose.

Okolny (Lower) Castle

The roundabout castle with its towers served a defensive function. Its inner territory was inhabited by the nobility and the higher clergy. At the beginning, the defensive towers had three tiers, which ended with merlons (teeth). The reflection of these battlements is still preserved on the walls. Over time and with the development of military affairs, and in particular with the use of firearms, the walls changed their original shape. New loopholes were added, which significantly increased the height of the walls, which has since reached twelve meters. As already mentioned, the only tower that has survived to this day is named after the Czartoryski princes. They owned Lutsk in the 15th-16th centuries. The tower adjacent to the Jesuit monastery can only be viewed from Drahomanov Street.

Legends of Lubart's Castle

And not only the material heritage is interesting for tourists; over the seven hundred years of its existence, Lubart’s castle has acquired incredible, extremely mysterious, inexplicable and romantic legends. This is precisely the most popular of the legends of the fortress. She talks about the eternal love of Prince Lubart for Princess Bush - the daughter of Prince Leo II, the last of the family of Daniil of Galitsky. The beauty's life was cut short too early; she did not live to see the completion of the castle. The saddened prince found the strength to live on, subsequently got married and had children. But he did not forget the first and only love of his life. Until his last day, Lubart brought fresh flowers to his beloved’s grave. This allowed the princess to find peace in her soul, and that is why her ghosts do not wander around the walls of the building. Therefore, the castle has become a place of pilgrimage for local newlyweds, who climb the tower to pray together. After all, they believe that this ritual will keep love in their hearts forever. Proof of this is that a pair of falcons have settled in the Entrance Tower and have been living there for several years.

There are also quite creepy legends according to which the ghosts of two girls live in the castle. To see the first of them, at nightfall it is worth going down into the castle’s dungeon; they say that this is part of the labyrinth that extends under the entire city. It is worth listening to the most interesting and creepy stories about the souls of girls lost among the walls. It’s worth experiencing it on your own skin; words cannot describe it.

The Gediminovichs first settled in Volyn in the 1320s. It was then, in 1321 or 1323, that the youngest son of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Gediminas, brother of the future Grand Dukes Olgerd and Keistut, Lubart married Anna Bucha, the only daughter of the 4th Galician king Andrei Yuryevich. By that time, the Galician-Volyn royal dynasty was openly degenerating, and its weakening state began to be increasingly claimed by more successful neighbors. As a result, by 1340, the only heir to this throne was Anna Buche, and through her, of course, Lyubart Gediminovich, which neither the local boyars nor the Polish king Casimir the Great were happy about. From 1340 and for the next 52 years, a war for the Galician-Volyn inheritance broke out between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Poland and the local nobility that joined the latter, one of the centers of which was Lutsk.

Lubart began construction of a stone castle in the city somewhere in the middle of the century and significantly intensified the process from 1366, when, having lost Vladimir-Volynsky, he was forced to make Lutsk his capital. The site chosen for the new princely residence was the territory of the ancient Detinets in the bend of Styr, where the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, the first Lutsk stone church, had been preserved since the end of the 12th century. Construction work lasted about 100 years, and their result was the construction of a castle, which played an important role in the history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Vytautas often visited here (and even in 1387-89 he was the prince of Lutsk); in 1429, a real summit of the monarchs of Northern, Central and Eastern Europe took place here, who spent 13 weeks in Lutsk solved issues the fate of the region. After the death of Vytautas and Yagaila, their sworn friendship was inherited by their younger brothers, Zhygimont Keistutovich and Svidrigailo, respectively, and Lutsk became one of the main arenas of the next civil war between the Gediminovichs. The most surprising thing is for a castle that was successively (and sometimes unsuccessfully) besieged by Casimir the Great, Jagiello, Zhygimont Keistutovich, the Turks with an assortment of Tatars, Severin Nalivaiko with his Cossacks, a castle that repeatedly burned along with the surrounding city, inside and outside the walls of which they fought for centuries active urban planning transformations, so what is most surprising in this light is the relatively high degree of preservation of the castle fortifications.

About the Upper Castle of Lutsk in this series.

Classic view from Cathedral Street. In plan, the castle is a triangle, the vertices of which are fortified with towers: in the center - Vyezdnaya (or Lyubarta), on the left (with a hipped roof) - Vladycha, on the right (only its battlements are visible above the wall) - Styreva (Styrova) or Svidrigailova. The entrance tower (its lower three tiers) and the southern section of the wall (to its right) are the oldest parts of the castle; they were built under Lubart around 1352-66. At the same time, the southern wall is the only obvious major remodel now, by the way, this is very noticeable - this was the case in the 1960-70s. restored the site, dismantled into bricks in the dashing 1860s.

Entrance tower, Lubart tower, five tiers reinforced with powerful buttresses. The lower three are from the mid-14th century, the fourth (with three small windows) is from 1370-1385, the fifth is from the 16th century, and the Renaissance attic is from the 17th century. Pay attention to the two blind niches above the main entrance - these are the original entrance and entrance to the castle, walled up after the fire of 1781 by order of the headman of Lutsk, Józef Czartoryski. Initially, they were much higher, and the modern gates were built in the ground floor of the tower.

Diagonal ribs of the cross vault inside the Entrance Tower.

Signboard.

Castle plan.

View of the castle grounds from the Entrance Tower from the height of the gallery on the eastern wall. In the center is the Lutsk "Shelter" object, a sarcophagus over the remains (foundation) of the Church of St. John the Evangelist of the 12th century. On the left is a classicist house, appearing under the names "bishop's palace" or "povet treasury" of the early 19th century. Now there is a Book Museum. Even further to the left , beyond the border of the photo is the Vladychaya Tower. At the right edge of the photo is the Styrova Tower.

To the left of the Entrance Tower is the ticket office (the entrance costs 5 UAH, in my opinion) and the eastern wall, which was also built under Lubart in 1370-85.

The Bishop's Palace and the Lord's Tower, the only one built entirely under Vytautas (and, experts say, even by the same team that worked on the Vytautas castle in Grodno) and the only one that has preserved a hipped roof covered with shingles to this day. The remaining towers lost it during the addition of Renaissance attics in the 17th century.

The Vladycha and Styrov towers are connected by a northern wall, also built of stone under Vytautas: in the late 1380s. he lived here permanently, and then visited regularly.

To the right of the Entrance Tower, the foundations of the Princely Palace of the 14th century have been preserved, behind which there is now a newly built wall from the 1970s. It was in this place that the so-called. "Congress of Lutsk". Here, to visit the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Vytautas, came his cousin, King of Poland Vladislav II Jagiello, King of Hungary and future Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund of Luxemburg, King of Denmark and Sweden, Eric of Pomerania, Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily II (grandson of Vytautas, son of his violent daughters of Sophia), Grand Master of the Teutonic Order Paul von Russdorff and other officials. Meetings often took place in a warm, friendly atmosphere, the parties exchanged opinions on various current international issues, ate moose, washed them down with honey, hunted in the surrounding forests, held knightly tournaments, and solved the problem of the coronation of 79-year-old Vytautas. The Polish delegation, which categorically opposed the coronation, eventually staged a demarche of dissent, declared its protest and left for Krakow, and the solemn ceremony was scheduled for the fall of the following year, 1430. The legendary story about the unfinished crown, treacherously intercepted by the Poles on the way from Rome, caused by this fact in the Grand Duke of Lithuania, depression, and as a consequence of the last illness, the death of a powerful 80-year-old man in October 1430, is well known. It all started in Lutsk.

Next to the princely palace (and partially in its place) in 1789, when the castle had already lost its defensive significance, the so-called building was built. "gentry house", where in the next century the povet office was located, and now there is an Art Museum.

The entrance to the sarcophagus that covers the Church of St. John the Evangelist is locked, because they are only allowed in with an organized group equipped with a guide. The church, which housed the ancient department of the Lutsk-Ostrog Orthodox Diocese, was built back in 1175-80. on the territory of the wooden fort Luceska. During the construction of a stone castle here, Lubart made the cathedral its center (he converted to Orthodoxy when he married a Galician-Volyn princess), and here he was buried.

Styrova Tower. Under Lubart (by 1385), only its foundation with huge buttresses was erected, under Vytautas - the first tier, and two more floors were completed under Svidrigailo.

The foot of the Styrovaya Tower, the foundation, as you can see, is made of wild stone. On the left, in a wonderful example of wooden architecture, there is a tourist toilet of the toilet type.

And in a niche nearby there is a forged structure, perhaps allegorically depicting the epic with the failed coronation of Vytautas as the Lithuanian king.

Perhaps this is what everything looked like when the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth reached its first, second and third ends.

View from the wall gallery near the Styrovaya Tower to the east.

View from the walls of the Upper Castle to the territory once occupied by the Nizhny (or Okolny) castle, which was significantly larger and more wooden than the Upper one. In the upper right corner, behind the trees, I can see one of the stone buildings of the Brigitte monastery. This large complex now houses the monastery of the UOC-KP and the Volyn Regional Center for Breeding Dog Breeding.

Lutsk, which we lost (although, however, quite a lot is still preserved here). On the left is the Upper Castle with the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, already rebuilt by the Uniates, on the right is the Lower Castle. In the upper right corner you can see the Church of St. Peter and Paul with the Jesuit college behind, behind the latter is the Czartoryski Tower, the only one that has survived to this day from the entire Lower Castle complex.

Now let's look from the Bishop's Palace to the Entrance Tower.

It’s Sunday, there are very few tourists in the castle, but there are a lot of weddings - only in this photo there are four brides at once. It seems to me that 83% of Lutsk married women have strikingly identical pictures in their wedding photo albums.

View from the north wall to the south. Below is the sarcophagus of St. John the Evangelist and a certain crypt in the foreground (I don’t even know whose it is). Next is the Entrance Tower, through which another bride passes. Behind the tower you can see the cathedral church.

The Lord's Tower, Vitovtova, is now a museum of bells. The top, as you can see, is new.

And the northern wall, also built under Vytautas, towards the Styrovaya Tower. At the foot of the wall is the entrance to a 19th-century basement complex. There are also all sorts of wooden things “looking like the Middle Ages” here.

A modest Bishop's Palace, or a treasury. In the foreground is a printing press belonging to the Book Museum, which is housed in the building now.

Western wall.

And the Eastern Wall Gallery.

Bricks that remember Vytautas.

Renaissance completion of the Entrance Tower.

And “swallowtails” also from the 17th century on the Styrova tower.

And right at the foot of Lubart's castle...

Modern Ukrainian realities.

The Lutsk Upper Castle is not only the largest monument of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania on the territory of Ukraine, it is probably the best-preserved example of defense architecture from the times of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. His only real competitor is

Lubart's Castle is the main symbol of the city of Lutsk, symbolizing the power of the Volyn region. This is one of the oldest and largest, which ranks first in the ranking of “7 Wonders of Ukraine”. It is famous for its interesting history, amazing architecture, amazing durability, a huge collection of ancient bells, and much more. The fortress was also honored to be depicted on the 200-hryvnia banknote.

Today it has three names: Lutsk (the most common), Verkhny (since there is another half-destroyed one in Lutsk - Nizhny), and Lubarta.

The castle was founded by Rurik in the 11th century. It was first mentioned in chronicles in 1075, when the fortress withstood a siege by the soldiers of Boleslav the Brave, which lasted 6 months. Initially it was a relatively small wooden fortification. It was located on an island surrounded by swamps. Such an advantageous position gave the owners an advantage in battles with invaders. In the period from 1340 to 1350, when Lyubart Gediminovich (son-in-law of the Galician-Volyn prince Andrei II Yuryevich) ruled in the Volyn region, the fortress was completely rebuilt into a brick one. New walls were built around the old ones, which increased the area of ​​the building. In addition, the water level around the castle was increased by building a special dam. And a special drawbridge was made to cross the ditch.

At the end of the 14th century, Prince Vytautas came to power and made Lutsk the southern capital of the Principality of Lithuania. Under him, the city flourished and became a powerful political, religious and administrative center of Volyn, and Lubart's castle received the shape that it has to this day. It was in the princely palace of the castle that a congress of European monarchs took place in 1429. It resolved the issue of protecting Europe from Ottoman invaders and other international issues. When Vitovt died, his brother Svidrigailo became prince, during whose time perestroika was completely completed. That is why the Lutsk fortress is often called the castle of three princes.

Resistance to siege

Amazingly, Lubart's castle in Lutsk is in good condition to this day, despite the fact that over its centuries-old history it has withstood many sieges. After Boleslav the Brave, the Rostov-Suzdal and Kiev princes tried to capture the wooden citadel in 1149, and literally a year later the Galician prince Vladimir Vladimirovich intended to besiege the fortress. Five years later, his brother Yaroslav Vladimirovich came forward with the same goal. 100 years later, in 1255, the Lutsk castle of Lubert was attacked by the Golden Horde governor Kuremsa. He was not the last who tried to destroy the wooden child.

After the reconstruction of the castle, Polish kings tried to conquer its stone walls: Casimir in 1349 and Jagiello in 1431, as well as the Lithuanian prince Sigismund in 1436.

The legend about the defense of the castle from King Jagiello

When he tried to take possession of Volyn and take Lubart’s castle under siege after fierce battles, the fortress was still able to withstand the onslaught and defend the independence of the region. According to legend, it was not only the reliability of the fortress that helped the defenders win, but also their personal ingenuity. After a long and grueling siege, when ammunition was already running out, local residents decided to catapult the Poles with the rotting corpses of animals. Under fire from dead animals, the Poles finally retreated.

Later use of the fortress

Lubart and his defenders were able to resist even the invasion of the Mongol-Tatars. In 1569, when the Union of Ljubljana was concluded and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was formed, the castle became a royal residence. By the 17th century, the fortress began to lose its defensive capabilities. By this time, the castle housed: courts, the bishop's residence, an office, and outbuildings. On the territories of the Upper and Lower castles there were Latin and Orthodox cathedras, which made it possible for the gentry of both faiths to gather. And the Lutsk Tribunal had power not only over Volyn, but also over a number of other voivodeships.

From the middle of the 19th century, the complex began to fall into disrepair. And in 1863, officials decided to dismantle it and sell it as building material. The exit tower and adjacent wall went under the hammer for 373 rubles. Fortunately, they did not have time to sell the fortress, because in 1864 the Kiev commission prohibited the demolition of the complex. But a sadder fate awaited the Lower Castle.

In 1870, a fire brigade settled in the castle and built a booth above the Lord’s Tower, from which they controlled the city. In 1918, a summer theater with a wooden pavilion and foyer was built on the territory of the Castle. The so-called “living pictures” were shown here, which at that time were considered fashionable. This is how one of the first cinemas in Lutsk appeared.

Today Lubart's Castle, or Lutsk Castle, is a historical museum and national monument.

Towers

The fortification of the fortress has the shape of an irregular triangle, in each corner of which there are towers: Vyezdnaya, Vladychya, Styrovaya. On the west side there is the Exit Tower, which you can climb to get a bird's eye view of the city. Elements of the tower reflect various historical facts. For example, on the main façade above the central entrance there are two arches. Previously, they had passages that could be accessed from a drawbridge located above the moat. Today the arches have been walled up, and a regular entrance has been built instead of a bridge.

Inside the tower there are two spiral staircases. The tower has several floors, on each of them there is an exhibition of ancient engravings and paintings dedicated to this castle, as well as ancient maps of the Volyn region. On the top floor there is an exhibition of old toys, keys, bottles and other items. The Lord's Tower also contains exhibitions dedicated to the city and the stronghold.

Execution place

In front of the Exit Tower, in the courtyard there are weapons used for both siege and defense, as well as various devices preserved from the Middle Ages. In the 16th century, this site was a place where people were executed, usually by cutting off their heads.

Other buildings

On the territory of the fortress there are: dungeons, a princely palace, a county treasury and a house of noble courts. The Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, which was the first Christian church in Lutsk, has also been partially preserved. They say that Prince Lubart was buried here.

Near the remains of the temple there is an exhibition of old tiles and bricks. Here you can see bricks of different sizes and ages. Some copies even have ancient inscriptions. In the courtyard you can also see the remains of wooden buildings and old metal objects.

Lubart Castle is also famous for its large collection of ancient bells (the only one in Ukraine), a printing museum and a collection of weapons.

Graffiti on the walls

Throughout the existence of the fortress, people left many inscriptions on its exterior. In fact, all the walls between the towers are covered with various words. Mostly these are names of people and dates. The oldest writing on the wall dates back to 1444. The inscriptions are characterized by a variety of fonts, scratching methods and calligraphy. Among them there are also records of famous people, for example, Lesya Ukrainka’s sister, Olga Kosach, dated 1891.

Conclusion

So you and I got acquainted with such a colorful and fascinating landmark of Western Ukraine as Lubart’s Castle. Lutsk welcomes its guests with many more interesting places, among which, by the way, are the remains of the Lower Castle. Well, Lubart’s castle awaits tourists every day from 10:00 to 18:00. The entrance fee is only 10 UAH (about 25 Russian rubles) for an adult and 2 UAH (about 5 rubles) for a child. Well, those who want to visit the tower and take a tour will have to pay 50 UAH (within 130 rubles). Come to Lutsk and touch the centuries-old history with your own hands!

Lutsk Castle is a symbol of the city of Lutsk, its main attraction and pride. Built in the 14th century by the Lithuanian prince Lubart, who married a local princess and converted to the Orthodox faith, it was chosen as a princely residence.
The castle has three names: Lutsk (the most common), Upper (there is also a Lower castle, dilapidated) and Lubart’s castle (named after the owner).
It was first mentioned in the chronicle in 1075, when it was already a fortified point that withstood a 6-month siege by Boleslav the Brave. The history of the castle in Lutsk dates back to 1340; it began its existence much earlier. In the 11th century, a wooden fortification was built on the castle hill - the first castle, which lasted for two centuries and was then replaced by a more durable stone one.
In plan, the castle has an irregular shape, close to a triangle, which was determined by the terrain. On the main façade of the Entrance Tower, note that above the modern opening there are wide and narrow walled-up arches: these are the ancient 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, and therefore called Styrovaya. The entire castle complex was built of brick. Located in the center of the castle courtyard, the Cathedral of St. John was destroyed.
Key events of the castle.
1075 - withstood a 6-month siege by the Polish king Boleslav the Brave.
1149 - unsuccessful six-week siege of Lutsk by the army of Yuri Dolgoruky
1150 - Galician prince Vladimir Volodarevich was unable to capture the city and castle
1155 - Galician prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich was unable to capture the city and castle
1255 - siege of Lucesk by the troops of the Golden Ordian governor Kuremsa
1349 - Casimir, King of Poland, unsuccessfully besieges Lutsk
1429 - over the course of 7 weeks, a congress of European monarchs took place in the castle (Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, Polish King Jagiello, Danish King Eric, Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas, Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily II, Prussian Grand Master, Papal Legate, ambassador from the Byzantine Emperor Ivan Paleologus , Crimean Khan and Voloshsky 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 rights to Lutsk.
1436 - Lutsk withstands the siege of the Lithuanian troops of Grand Duke Sigismund.