The Old

Grodno Grodno (russian: Гродно, pl, Grodno; lt, Gardinas) or Hrodna ( be, Гродна ), is a city in western Belarus. The city is located on the Neman River, 300 km (186 mi) from Minsk, about 15 km (9 mi) from the Polish b ...

Castle (also known as the ''Grodno Upper Castle'' and ''Bathory's Castle'') originated in the 11th century as the seat of a dynasty of

Black Ruthenia Black Ruthenia ( la, Ruthenia Nigra), or Black Rus' ( be, Чорная Русь, translit=Čornaja Ruś; lt, Juodoji Rusia; pl, Ruś Czarna), is a historical region on the Upper Nemunas, including Novogrudok (Naugardukas), Grodno (Gardinas) a ...

n rulers, descended from a younger son of

Yaroslav the Wise Yaroslav the Wise or Yaroslav I Vladimirovich; russian: Ярослав Мудрый, ; uk, Ярослав Мудрий; non, Jarizleifr Valdamarsson; la, Iaroslaus Sapiens () was the Grand Prince of Kiev from 1019 until his death. He was al ...

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Ky ...

History

Construction

The first wooden castle was built in the 11th century at the confluence of the Neman and the Gorodnichanka rivers. The 13th-century

keep A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in c ...

of the castle belonged to a type of Belarusian defensive tower represented by the Tower of Kamyanyets.

Vytautas the Great Vytautas (c. 135027 October 1430), also known as Vytautas the Great ( Lithuanian: ', be, Вітаўт, ''Vitaŭt'', pl, Witold Kiejstutowicz, ''Witold Aleksander'' or ''Witold Wielki'' Ruthenian: ''Vitovt'', Latin: ''Alexander Vitoldus'', O ...

rebuilt the castle in stone and added five

Brick Gothic Brick Gothic (german: Backsteingotik, pl, Gotyk ceglany, nl, Baksteengotiek) is a specific style of Gothic architecture common in Northeast and Central Europe especially in the regions in and around the Baltic Sea, which do not have resourc ...

towers in 1391–98, transforming it into one of his main residences.

Casimir IV Jagiellon Casimir IV (in full Casimir IV Andrew Jagiellon; pl, Kazimierz IV Andrzej Jagiellończyk ; Lithuanian: ; 30 November 1427 – 7 June 1492) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440 and King of Poland from 1447, until his death. He was one of the m ...

also favoured Grodno over Lithuania's official capital. It was there that the

Polish Crown The Crown of the Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Korona Królestwa Polskiego; Latin: ''Corona Regni Poloniae''), known also as the Polish Crown, is the common name for the historic Late Middle Ages territorial possessions of the King of Poland, incl ...

was offered to him, and it was there that he died in 1492. The next notable tenant of the castle was

Stephen Báthory Stephen Báthory ( hu, Báthory István; pl, Stefan Batory; ; 27 September 1533 – 12 December 1586) was Voivode of Transylvania (1571–1576), Prince of Transylvania (1576–1586), King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (1576–1586) ...

who envisaged Grodno as the capital of his vast empire in Eastern Europe. He engaged Scotto of Parma to replace the Vytautas Castle with his own residence in the advanced

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...

taste of Northern Italy. After Bathory's death in Grodno in 1586, his pet project was abandoned. The citadel was devastated by the

Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 '' Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...

during a

Russo-Polish War Armed conflicts between Poland (including the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth) and Russia (including the Soviet Union) include: Originally a Polish civil war that Russia, among others, became involved in. Originally a Hungarian revolution ...

in 1655.

Reconstruction

The castle's revival took place in 1673-78 due to Krzysztof Zygmunt Pac who raised sufficient funds to finance the refurbishing of the royal residence. The restored castle was selected by King Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki of Poland as the location for every third

Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland ( Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of ...

of the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...

. The castle suffered extensive damage during the

Great Northern War The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swe ...

, forcing the royal court to move into the

New Grodno Castle The New Castle in Grodno, Belarus is a royal palace of Augustus III of Poland and Stanisław August Poniatowski where the famous Grodno Sejm took place in 1793. New Grodno Castle is above sea level. The royal residence was built on the high ban ...

. After the

partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place toward the end of the 18th century and ended the existence of the state, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland and Lithuania for 12 ...

the castle was given over to the

Russian army The Russian Ground Forces (russian: Сухопутные войска �ВSukhoputnyye voyska V}), also known as the Russian Army (, ), are the land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Force ...

and housed a

barracks Barracks are usually a group of long buildings built to house military personnel or laborers. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word "barraca" ("soldier's tent"), but today barracks are u ...

. The authorities of interwar Poland restored the chamber of the ambassadors and the Sejm Hall.

XX-XXI centuries

At present the castle serves as a historical and archaeological museum with a collection of more than 200,000 artifacts, one of the largest in Belarus. The newest reconstruction began in 2017. The restoration of the Old Grodno Castle was criticized due to the lacking of historical authenticity. For instance, the contemporary viewpoint was added near the central gates. Some specialists disputed the restoration project, they found significant mistakes in documentation that appeared because the constructor couldn’t read historical inventory descriptions written in Polish and German. For example, the shape of the dome above the central tower, added levels between towers and galleries. Some authentic 16th century walls were demolished.

References

Literature

* Ф. Д. Гуревич. "Древности Белорусского Понеманья". Ленинград, Изд-во Академии наук СССР, 1962. *

External links

Virtual Tour of The Old Grodno Castle

The Old Grodno Castle Official Website

Restoration
process, 2019
Video
report about the reconstruction (in Russian) {{Castles in Belarus Buildings and structures in Grodno Region Castles in Belarus Castles of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Residences of Polish monarchs Royal residences in Belarus Tourist attractions in Grodno Region 11th-century establishments in Europe Buildings and structures completed in the 11th century