Dubingiai Castle
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Dubingiai Castle () was a residential castle in
Dubingiai Dubingiai () is a town in Molėtai district in Lithuania. It is situated near Lake Asveja, the longest lake in the country. The town has 208 inhabitants as of 2017. History The settlement was first mentioned in 1334, when Teutonic knights razed ...
,
Molėtai district Molėtai (; ; ) is a city in north eastern Lithuania surrounded by lakes. One of the oldest settlements in Lithuania, it is a popular resort for the inhabitants of Vilnius. According to the 2013 census, it had 6,302 inhabitants. Known for the fam ...
,
Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
.


History

The first
masonry Masonry is the craft of building a structure with brick, stone, or similar material, including mortar plastering which are often laid in, bound, and pasted together by mortar (masonry), mortar. The term ''masonry'' can also refer to the buildin ...
castle was constructed by
Vytautas Vytautas the Great (; 27 October 1430) was a ruler of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He was also the prince of Grodno (1370–1382), prince of Lutsk (1387–1389), and the postulated king of the Hussites. In modern Lithuania, Vytautas is revere ...
,
Grand Duke of Lithuania This is a list of Lithuanian monarchs who ruled Lithuania from its inception until the fall of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1795. The Lithuanian monarch bore the title of Grand duke, Grand Duke, with the exception of Mindaugas, who was crown ...
, in 1412-1413 on an island, now a
peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...
, in
Lake Asveja Lake Asveja or Dubingiai Lake ( or ) is the longest lake in Lithuania (length: 21.9 km or 29.7 km counting the Žalktynė, Vyriogala and Dubingiai bights). It covers 9.78 km2 area and reaches a depth of 50.2m which makes it the thi ...
in order to secure the capital
Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...
from attacks from
Livonia Livonia, known in earlier records as Livland, is a historical region on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the Livonians, who lived on the shores of present-day Latvia. By the end of the 13th century, the name was extende ...
. No accounts concerning the architecture of Vytautas' castle have survived. It was acquired by
Jerzy Radziwiłł Jerzy Radziwiłł (; 1480 – April 1541), nicknamed "Herkules", was a Polish–Lithuanian nobleman. He was Deputy Cup-Bearer of Lithuania from 1510, voivode of Kiev Voivodeship from 1510, Field Hetman of Lithuania in 1521, castellan of ...
(Jurgis Radvila) prior to 1508. He constructed a new palace in the Renaissance style in the first half of the 16th century. After the death of Jerzy, his son Mikolaj "the Red" inherited the property, causing the town nearby to become an important hub for the
Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...
in Lithuania.
Barbara Radziwiłł Barbara Radziwiłł (, ; 6 December 1520/23 – 8 May 1551) was List of Polish royal consorts, Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania as consort of Sigismund II Augustus, the last male monarch of the Jagiellon dynasty. Barbara, a great b ...
(Barbora Radvilaitė) spent five months in the castle after her marriage to
Sigismund Augustus Sigismund II Augustus (, ; 1 August 1520 – 7 July 1572) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the son of Sigismund I the Old, whom Sigismund II succeeded in 1548. He was the first ruler of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and t ...
in 1547. The palace used to be one of the most luxurious residences in the Grand Duchy, lagging not much behind the
Royal Palace This is a list of royal palaces, sorted by continent. Africa Americas Asia Europe Oceania {, class="wikitable" width="95%" , - bgcolor="white" !align=center, Residence !align=center, Photo !align=center, City !align=cen ...
. Dubingiai Castle was the main seat of the
Biržai Biržai (, also known by several alternative names) is a city in northern Lithuania. Famous for its reconstructed Biržai Castle manor, the whole region is renowned for its many traditional-recipe beer breweries. Name The exact origin of th ...
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Dubingiai Dubingiai () is a town in Molėtai district in Lithuania. It is situated near Lake Asveja, the longest lake in the country. The town has 208 inhabitants as of 2017. History The settlement was first mentioned in 1334, when Teutonic knights razed ...
line of the Radziwiłł (Radvilos) family until the second half of the 17th century, when it was transferred to
Biržai Castle Biržai Castle (, ) is a 16th century castle in Biržai, northern Lithuania. It is located in Aukštaitija region, Panevėžys County. The castle was the first Italian-style bastion fort in Lithuania and one of the first in North-Eastern Europe. ...
. During the Polish–Lithuanian-Swedish wars, the castle was pillaged by armies loyal to the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. It was confiscated from
Bogusław Radziwiłł Bogusław Radziwiłł (; 3 May 1620 – 31 December 1669) was a Polish princely magnate and a member of the Polish-Lithuanian ''szlachta'', or nobility. He was of the Radziwiłł magnate family. By birth he was an Imperial Prince of the ...
(Boguslavas Radvila). It returned to the family in the second half of the 17th century. The neglected castle and church gradually fell into ruins. It was sold to Michał Tyszkiewicz (Mykolas Tiškevičius) in 1808. Today only the foundations and several cellars of the castle and church remain and are being researched. The masonry
Calvinist Church Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyterian, ...
of
the Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit, otherwise known as the Holy Ghost, is a concept within the Abrahamic religions. In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is understood as the divine quality or force of God manifesting in the world, particularly in acts of prophecy, creatio ...
was built in the
Renaissance style Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of Ancient Greece, ancient Greek and ...
near the castle by Janusz Radziwiłł (Jonušas Radvila) prior to 1620 and was intended to be the
mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type o ...
of the Radziwiłł family. The most prominent members of the family were interred there, including
Mikołaj "the Black" Radziwiłł Mikołaj is the Polish cognate of given name Nicholas, used both as a given name and a surname. It may refer to people: In Polish (or Polish-Lithuanian) nobility: * Mikołaj Kamieniecki, Polish nobleman and the first Grand Hetman of the Crown * ...
(Mikalojus Radvila Juodasis) in 1565 and his wife
Elżbieta Szydłowiecka Elżbieta Szydłowiecka () (b. 1533, d. 1562) was a Polish–Lithuanian Calvinist noblewoman heiress. She was the youngest daughter of Court and Great Chancellor Krzysztof Szydłowiecki and Zofia Tagrowicka h. Tarnawa. She was born in 1533. Sh ...
in 1562,
Mikołaj "the Red" Radziwiłł Mikołaj is the Polish cognate of given name Nicholas, used both as a given name and a surname. It may refer to people: In Polish (or Polish-Lithuanian) nobility: * Mikołaj Kamieniecki, Polish nobleman and the first Grand Hetman of the Crown * ...
(Mikalojus Radvila Rudasis) in 1584 and Janusz Radziwiłł in 1620. Their remains were discovered during
archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
excavations in 2004 and reburied there on 5 September 2009.


Rebuilding

In 2024 a fund "Dubingių pilies fondas" was established with a goal to rebuild the castle in the near future. The idea of the restoration is actively supported by the representative of the Radvila family, Duke Motiejus Radvila (Maciej Radziwill), who is among the founders of the fund, along with Prof. Albinas Kuncevičius, Dr. Vydas Dolinskas, who was in charge of the restoration of the Palace of the Grand Dukes, and
Molėtai District Municipality The Molėtai District Municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania. Molėtai is known for its many lakes. There are about 220 lakes in the district and they cover about 7% of the total territory. Since it is only about 60 km north o ...
. Image:Radvilos Church.jpg, The remains of the church after the excavations Image:Dubingiai Castle.jpg, The excavations at the castle site in 2007 Image:Dubingiai7b.JPG, Excavated castle foundations in 2009 File:Radvilos Reburial Ceremony 1.jpg, Reburial ceremony of Radvilas, 2009


See also

*
List of castles in Lithuania Most of Lithuania's early castles were wooden and have not survived. Those that remain are of stone and brick construction dating from the 13th century onwards. List of castles and castle ruins in Lithuania See also * List of castles in Belar ...


References

*
Exploration of the Dubingiai Castle
*

{{Castles in Lithuania Former castles in Lithuania Buildings and structures in Utena County Tourist attractions in Utena County Castles and palaces of the Radziwiłł family