Lida Castle (, , ) is a historic, medieval castle in

Lida Lida is a city in Grodno Region, western Belarus, located west of Minsk. It serves as the administrative center of Lida District. As of 2025, it has a population of 103,262. Etymology The name ''Lida'' arises from its Lithuanian name ''Ly ...

, Grodno Region, western

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

History

It was one of several citadels erected by Grand Duke

Gediminas Gediminas ( – December 1341) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1315 or 1316 until his death in 1341. He is considered the founder of Lithuania's capital Vilnius (see: Iron Wolf legend). During his reign, he brought under his rule lands from t ...

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 ...

in the early 14th century to defend his lands against the expansion of the

Teutonic Knights The Teutonic Order is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem was formed to aid Christians on their pilgrimages to t ...

. Other links in the

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 ...

defensive chains included Dubingiai,

Kernavė Kernavė was a medieval capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and today is a tourist attraction and an archeological site (population 238, 2021). It is located in the Širvintos district municipality located in southeast Lithuania. A Lithuanian ...

, Punia,

Eišiškės Eišiškės (, , /Eishishki, /Eishyshki, /Eyshishok/Eishishok) is a city in southeastern Lithuania on the border with Belarus. It is situated on a small group of hills, surrounded by marshy valley of Verseka and Dumblė Rivers. The rivers divid ...

Kreva Kreva (, ; ; ; ) is an agrotown in Smarhon District, Grodno Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Krevas selsoviet. The first mention dates to the 13th century. The toponym is derived from the name of the Krivichs tribe. ...

Medininkai Medininkai (; ; , old ) is a village in Lithuania. Administrationwise it is centre to the :lt:Medininkų seniūnija, Medininkai Eldership, which forms part of the Vilnius District Municipality; the district itself is in turn part of the Vilnius C ...

Senieji Trakai Senieji Trakai (literally: ''Old Trakai'', ) is a historic Lithuanian village located east of Trakai. According to the Lithuanian census of 2011, it has 1,396 inhabitants – Lithuanians, Poles and Russians. The Saint Petersburg–Warsaw Railwa ...

and

Trakai Trakai (; see Trakai#Names and etymology, names section for alternative and historic names) is a city and lake resort in Lithuania. It lies west of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania or just from the administrative limits of the Lithuanian capi ...

. The modern town of

grew up around this castle. Lida Castle is above sea level. The site selected for the castle is naturally defended by the Kamenka and Lida rivers to east and west. Construction of boulder walls was carried out in 1323, 1324, and 1325. Later they were faced with red brick. The castle had two angle towers and a church, which was moved outside the walls in 1533. The upper storeys of both towers were lived in. Despite its strong fortifications, Lida was taken by the Teutonic Knights on several occasions (1384, 1392). Lithuanian Grand Duke

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 ...

gave it to his ally, Khan

Tokhtamysh Tokhtamysh ( Turki/ Kypchak and Persian: توقتمش; ; ; – 1406) was Khan of the Golden Horde from 1380 to 1395. He briefly succeeded in consolidating the Blue and White Hordes into a single polity. Tokhtamysh belonged to the House of Bo ...

, who settled "in a

yurt A yurt (from the Turkic languages) or ger (Mongolian language, Mongolian) is a portable, round tent covered and Thermal insulation, insulated with Hide (skin), skins or felt and traditionally used as a dwelling by several distinct Nomad, nomad ...

near the castle".The Castle of Lida
. Retrieved on 2009-03-04 In 1406, the family of

Yury of Smolensk Yury Svyatoslavich () or Georgy Svyatoslavovich (; died 1407) was the prince of Smolensk and Bryansk (1386–1395; 1401–1404) whose life was spent in vain attempts to fend off aggression by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Reign In 1386, a war bro ...

was locked up in Lida as hostages; his attempt to take the castle and liberate them was not successful. In 1433, Lida was a point of contention between

Švitrigaila Švitrigaila (before 1370 – 10 February 1452; sometimes spelled Svidrigiello) was the Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1430 to 1432. He spent most of his life in largely unsuccessful dynastic struggles against his cousins Vytautas and Sigismund K� ...

and his cousin

Sigismund Kęstutaitis Sigismund Kęstutaitis (, ; 136520 March 1440) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1432 to 1440. Sigismund was his baptismal name, while his pagan Lithuanian birth name is unknown. He was the son of Grand Duke Kęstutis and his wife Birutė. Aft ...

. The following decades were somewhat less stormy. Lida was ravaged by the

Crimean Tatars Crimean Tatars (), or simply Crimeans (), are an Eastern European Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group and nation indigenous to Crimea. Their ethnogenesis lasted thousands of years in Crimea and the northern regions along the coast of the Blac ...

in 1506 and it was stormed by the Russians during the Russo-Polish War in 1659. The

Swedes Swedes (), or Swedish people, are an ethnic group native to Sweden, who share a common ancestry, Culture of Sweden, culture, History of Sweden, history, and Swedish language, language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countries, ...

, taking it twice during the

Great Northern War In the Great Northern War (1700–1721) a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the ant ...

, had both towers blown up. In 1794, the castle grounds were the site of a battle between Kościuszko's followers and the Russians. After the city fire of 1891, the south-western tower and parts of the western wall of the castle were torn down to provide stone for repairing fire-damaged houses. A team of archaeologists from

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

intervened to halt

vandalism Vandalism is the action involving deliberate destruction of or damage to public or private property. The term includes property damage, such as graffiti and defacement directed towards any property without permission of the owner. The t ...

. There was only a slight restoration of the walls in the 1920s. During much of the 20th century, an itinerant

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility where animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoology, ...

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...

occupied the castle compound. Every December a

Christmas tree A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen pinophyta, conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, associated with the celebration of Christmas. It may also consist of an artificial tree of similar appearance. The custom was deve ...

was placed within the walls. It was not until 1982 that a restoration campaign was launched. The red brick was used to denote the newly reconstructed sections, up to high. Significant restoration occurred in 2010. Each year, the Lida Castle hosts a medieval-style tournament. A museum is being created within its towers.

References

External links

М. Шимелевич. Город Лида и Лидский замок (Вильно, 1906)

Lida Castle
o
official website of the Republic of Belarus
{{coord, 53.887073, 25.30272, display=title Buildings and structures in Grodno region Castles in Belarus Castles of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Lida Tourist attractions in Grodno region