[One-to-one with ] EnguideBot: Pidhirtsi Castle / Підгорецький замок

Within the walls of the castle happened a lot of interesting, historical, tragic events. Its foundation dates back to 1530, for his century, survived the devastation, restoration, fire, repeatedly changed owners. Pidhirtsi Castle was rightly considered by the beautiful palace of Eastern Europe, there are often grandiose balls. These nobles gathered from all around the castle visited European monarchs, the Russian Tsar Peter I, known architects and artists. READ MORE ->

This is the oldest building in western Ukraine, and one of the best-known castles that had been reconstructed from ruin. For over six centuries, the castle has been soaring on a 50-meter (164 feet) high hill, protecting memories of crucial historical events that it had witnessed and participated in. Today, a museum occupies the castle, exhibiting unique works of art. The exact year of the castle's origin is unknown, but its first historical mention is in 1327. At that time, the fortress passed into the possession of Prince Yurii, who was invited by boyars to take the Halych-Volyn throne. The Olesko Castle was located on the border of Volyn and Halitia, which made it strategically important: the fort played a key role in the battles among Lithuania, Poland, and Hungary. The castle was destroyed many times. Each time, however, it was restored from its ruins, changing the appearance, structure, and character of its fortifications. Throughout the centuries, the castle had many owners: Volyn magnates, Lithuanian princes, and Polish kings. The castle went into Poland’s history as the place of birth of King Jan III Sobieski, who freed Vienna from the Ottomans. Legends say that the future Polish monarch was born during a terrible storm. The table on which the newly born was laying cracked from the roar of thunder, and those around the newborn prince immediately predicted might and power for him. Years later, Jan III became the owner of the castle. He renovated the building and turned it into a 'chamber' castle, where he gathered an impressive collection of artworks. READ MORE ->

The four-century-old Zhovkva Castle is the main tourist magnet of the small town Zhovkva, situated on Lviv's outskirts. The powerful construction, which used to be a part of the town fortification system and provided reliable protection to it, is now reckoned among the prominent historical and architectural monuments of the Renaissance period in Ukraine. Town’s founder, Polish military leader and crown Chancellor Stanislaw Zolkiewski, started castle construction, in 1594. Twelve years later, the building was finished, and an impressive brick and stone house appeared in Zhovkva’s center. Traits of Renaissance and Baroque styles peculiarly interwove in its architecture. The castle was probably raised by analogy with Dutch fortifications of that time and was well-fortified: the quadrangle building was crowned by pentagonal towers and surrounded by a wide water ditch. Closed galleries with loopholes linked the towers to the castle’s two-tier buildings. The second level was occupied by a prison for captive Tatars, who were then used for construction works in Zhovkva. The house, where the city owners lived, stood in the courtyard of the castle complex, the arsenal with smithy and stable, adjacent to the carriage house, was located next to it. A little later, the zoo, where bison, deer, and chamois were bred for hunting, was arranged near the castle. It didn’t exist for more than a hundred years, though. READ MORE ->

The High Castle Hill, 413 m (1355 feet) above sea level, is the best vantage point for a panoramic view of Lviv. The base of the steel flag mast in the center of the viewing area shows the cardinal points to help in orientation. This is one of the highest spots of the low range of hills stretching through Lviv and across the border into Poland. These hills are also part of the main European water divide that splits rivers feeding the Baltic and the Black seas. As a result, Lviv is divided into the Baltic and the Black Sea parts. When weather conditions provide good visibility, the vague outlines of the Carpathian Mountains can be seen from here to the southwest. You may be wondering where the castle is on High Castle Hill. The explanation is simple: The highest part of the hill, from where the circular footpath begins winding its way to the top, was man-made at the initiative of the city’s Polish community almost 150 years ago to mark the 300th anniversary of the unification of Poland and Lithuania into a single state. The stones of the nearby castle walls were recycled as construction material for the observation hill where you are standing. Today only a barren fragment of the castle wall with several embrasures remains and can be seen from the footpath leading to the top of the hill. From the 1300s to the end of the 1600s the castle was an important stronghold where Lviv residents found protection during frequent sieges. The castle fell on only three occasions: to the Ukrainian Cossacks in 1648, to the Turks in 1672, and to the Swedish army in the early 1700s, after which it was never rebuilt. READ MORE ->