The Lviv High Castle (, ; ) is a historic castle located on the top of the Castle Hill of the city of

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

, Ukraine. It is currently the highest point in the city, above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

. The castle currently stands in ruins. The High Castle is proximate to the

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

of Lviv ( see picture), formerly being surrounded by a fortification wall. The Castle Hill took its name from the High Castle (as opposed to the , once located on the east bank of the Poltva), which used to be located on the hill from the 13th century to the late 19th century. The castle was a main defensive fort of the city during its existence.

History

Before the castle was built, there were certainly defensive structures in Lviv, but their shape and exact location are unknown. As it follows from Rus' Chronicles, the first wooden structures were built by Leo I of Halych. In 1261 by a request of Mongol military leader

Boroldai Boroldai (or Burulday, Borolday), also known as Burundai, (Cyrillic: ''Боролдай'') (died 1263) was a Mongol general of the mid 13th century. He participated in the Mongol invasion of Russia and Europe from 1236 to 1242 and other Mongol rai ...

they were destroyed. Before 1283 they were rebuilt. Here was the treasury of the kingdom of Rus', including crowns, thrones and precious crosses with parts of the True Cross.Rocznik Traski // Monumenta Poloniae Historica. – Lwów, 1872. – T. 2. – P. 860–861 According to chronicler

Jan Długosz Jan Długosz (; 1 December 1415 – 19 May 1480), also known in Latin as Johannes Longinus, was a Polish priest, chronicler, diplomat, soldier, and secretary to Bishop Zbigniew Oleśnicki of Kraków. He is considered Poland's first histo ...

in 1340, when Lviv was captured by

Casimir III of Poland Casimir III the Great (; 30 April 1310 – 5 November 1370) reigned as the King of Poland from 1333 to 1370. He also later became King of Ruthenia in 1340, retaining the title throughout the Galicia–Volhynia Wars. He was the last Polish king fr ...

, the king ordered city's fortifications to be dismantled. In 1351 Lithuanian prince

Liubartas Liubartas or Demetrius of Liubar (died ) was a Lithuanian prince from the Gediminid dynasty. He was the prince of Volhynia, and from 1320, he ruled over Lutsk, Liubar and Zhytomyr. Liubartas was also the last ruler of the Kingdom of Galicia–Vo ...

captured and burned down Lviv. Two years later in 1353 Liubartas again invaded the city this time destroying it completely. Casimir III built a new town on the Poltva River and granted it a Magdeburg rights in 1356. A new brick castle appeared on the hill in 1362 by the king Casmimir III. It became the residence of Polish nobles. In 1537, the castle witnessed a rebellion known as the

Chicken War Chicken War or Hen War () is the colloquial name for a 1537 anti-Jagiellon dynasty, royalist and anti-Absolute monarchy, absolutist ''rokosz'' (rebellion) by the Poland, Polish nobility. The derisive name was coined by the ''Magnates of Poland a ...

against Polish king

Sigismund I the Old Sigismund I the Old (, ; 1 January 1467 – 1 April 1548) was List of Polish monarchs, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1506 until his death in 1548. Sigismund I was a member of the Jagiellonian dynasty, the son of Casimir IV of P ...

and his wife

Bona Sforza Bona Sforza (2 February 1494 – 19 November 1557) was Queen consort, Queen of Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569), Poland and List of Lithuanian consorts, Grand Duchess of Lithuania as the second wife of Sigismund the Old, and Duchess of Bari and ...

. The castle was rebuilt and repaired many times. In the times of

Khmelnytsky Uprising The Khmelnytsky Uprising, also known as the Cossack–Polish War, Khmelnytsky insurrection, or the National Liberation War, was a Cossack uprisings, Cossack rebellion that took place between 1648 and 1657 in the eastern territories of the Poli ...

it was taken by Cossack forces of Colonel

Maksym Kryvonis Maksym Kryvonis ( Ukrainian: ''Максим Кривоніс'', Polish: ''Maksym Krzywonos''; literally means "crooked-nose") was one of the Cossack leaders and a commander of the Ukrainian peasants against the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. ...

in October 1648. In 1704, when Lviv was occupied by Swedes the castle was heavily damaged. In 1777, Austrians initiated disassembling of fortifications around the castle. In the 19th century, the then destroyed castle was taken apart and new facilities were built in its place. The fortification was strengthened, trees were planted on the hill's slope, and a park was constructed. On the place where the castle once stood, a Union of Lublin Mound was constructed in 1869, dedicated to the 300-years of the

Union of Lublin The Union of Lublin (; ) was signed on 1 July 1569 in Lublin, Poland, and created a single state, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest countries in Europe at the time. It replaced the personal union of the Crown of the Kingd ...

. Currently, an observation platform is located atop the kurgan. In 1957, a 141-meter tall

television tower Radio masts and towers are typically tall structures designed to support antennas for telecommunications and broadcasting, including television. There are two main types: guyed and self-supporting structures. They are among the tallest human-m ...

was constructed on a ridge of the hill ( see picture). In 2004-2005, there were talks of reconstructing a stone castle on the hill. The project gained some support and opposition. However, at this time, plans for the construction of the castle are not realistic.

In culture

'' Highcastle: A Remembrance'' (), a 1966

coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can b ...

autobiographical novel by the Polish, Lviv-born, science fiction writer

Stanisław Lem Stanisław Herman Lem (; 12 September 1921 – 27 March 2006) was a Polish writer. He was the author of many novels, short stories, and essays on various subjects, including philosophy, futurology, and literary criticism. Many of his science fi ...

, refers to the castle.Irene Sywenky, "Spaces of Unhomeliness: Rereading Post-Imperial Urban Heterotopias in East Central Europe", In: ,

History

In culture

References

Further reading