Berezhany Castle (, Berezhans'kyi zamok, ), around which the modern town of

Berezhany Berezhany ( ; ; ; , ''Bzhezhani''/''Bzhizhani'') is a small List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ternopil Raion, Ternopil Oblast, western Ukraine. It lies about from the administrative center of the oblast, Ternopil. Berezhany hosts the administr ...

has sprung up, was built on an island in the Zolota Lypa River in the 1530s and 1540s by Mikołaj Sieniawski as the main residence of the Sieniawski magnate family. Mikołaj Sieniawski turned the adjoining church of the Holy Trinity into a family mausoleum and a private church. Currently decayed, the church was a prominent example of early Baroque style. In 1630, the castle's fortifications were expanded. It was so well fortified that neither Khmelnitsky's

Cossacks The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic languages, East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borde ...

(in 1648 and 1648) nor the Turks (in 1675) succeeded in taking it. In 1655, it was surrendered to the Swedes without a fight. The local Jewish community was made responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the walls in 1667. After Maria Zofia Sieniawska's marriage to August Aleksander Czartoryski, the castle passed to the

Czartoryski The House of Czartoryski (feminine form: Czartoryska, plural: Czartoryscy; ) is a Princely Houses of Poland, Polish princely family of Lithuanian-Ruthenians, Ruthenian origin, also known as the Familia (political party), Familia. The family, whic ...

family (1726), then to the Princes

Lubomirski The House of Lubomirski is a Princely Houses of Poland, Polish princely family. The Lubomirski family's coat of arms is the Drużyna coat of arms, which is similar to the Szreniawa coat of arms but without a cross. Origin and the coat ...

(1778) and to the Counts Potocki (1816). Those new owners allowed it to fall into such disrepair that in 1908 visitors were cautioned not to enter the castle for fear of being smashed by falling masonry. The castle was further damaged during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, as was the late Gothic church from 1554 which contains a number of elaborate tombs of the Sieniawskis. The Brzeżany tombs were executed by Jan Pfister and other leading Polish artists of the 16th and 17th centuries.

References

Sources

* * Памятники градостроительства и архитектуры Украинской ССР, 4 volumes, Kiev: Будивэльнык, 1983-86, the article on Бережанский замок
online

External links

* {{Castles in Ukraine Ruined castles in Ukraine Castles in Ternopil Oblast Houses completed in the 16th century

Castles A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble. This i ...