1848. The French novelist Honoré de Balzac visited Vyshnivets and noted: “a little Versailles.” 1852. The owners shipped everything to France: 600 portraits, 21,000 books, …
In 1492, right when Columbus had just reached America, Konstanty Ostrozky began building a stone castle above the Ikva River. Over the next five centuries …
Most people who come here think nature swallowed up a railway. It’s actually the opposite. The green arch exists because of the trains — not …
Nine miles from Rivne, between three spurs of the Avratyn Plateau, stand two ruins side by side: a castle and a church. The castle dates …
Amid the forests of Volhynia, off the tourist routes, stands a structure that looks neither like a castle nor a ruin. Tarakaniv Fort is military …
1392. Polish king Władysław Jagiełło granted the area to Grand Duke Švitrigaila. 1430. Švitrigaila granted the castle to his courtier, Jeło-Maliński. Then came the Maliński …
The town of Nadvirna got its name from the castle. The Kuropatwa magnates lived in the fortress — and their “dvirnia” (servants) settled nearby. The …
The town is called “Ostroh” — from the Old Rus’ word “ostrih”: a sharpened-stake fence, a palisade around a fortification. In other words, the town …
The first impression here is strange. These don’t look like rocks. It’s as if someone carefully cut the stone into identical blocks and stacked them …