Every castle in Zakarpattia stands on a hill. Serednie Castle stands on flat ground, amid vineyards. This isn’t about watching over a strategic route from …
A town once stood here: Chervonohorod. Then the town disappeared. The Dzhuryn River, which had almost fully looped around the hill holding the castle, shifted …
The French traveler Dalairac visited in the 17th century and wrote that the castle could hold up to three thousand troops and had “every mark …
Mykulyntsi Castle is considered the only medieval castle in Ukraine that has retained its function as a residential dwelling. Not a fortress where people lived …
The Cossacks destroyed it. The Tatars destroyed it. The Ottomans destroyed it. Every time, it was rebuilt. Three destructions and three rebuildings — Skalat Castle …
Rakovets Castle’s three towers are triangular, square, and hexagonal. That combination wasn’t an architect’s whim. Each shape gave an optimal angle of observation and fire …
The castle records of Starozaslav Castle were kept starting in 1512. Not every castle in this series can claim that kind of bureaucratic pedigree. The …
1661. A Turkish army laid siege to Nyalab Castle. They failed to take it. 1672. The Austrian king Leopold I ordered his own castle destroyed. …
The town of Bar was once called “Riv,” after the Riv River that flowed past it. In 1537, Queen Bona Sforza bought this land and …
Above the entrance gate is a Latin inscription. “Sustine et abstine” — “Endure and restrain yourself.” Jan Krzysztof Buczacki-Tworowski, 1600. The man who commissioned the …
1683. The Polish army under Grand Crown Hetman Stanisław Jabłonowski took part in the Battle of Vienna. They won. Jabłonowski returned home with an icon …