Location: Lida, Hrodna Oblast Map
Constructed: 14th century by Grand Duke Gediminas
Lida Castle (Belarusian: Лідски замак) is a castle in Belarus, in the city of Lida, built in 1323 by order of Prince Gediminas. It was part of the line of defense against the Crusaders Novogrudok - Kreva - Medniki - Troki.
The castle was built of rubble stone and brick, had the shape of an
irregular quadrangle with two corner towers and was erected on an
artificial sand hill surrounded by the marshy banks of the Lideya and
Kamenka rivers, from the north - a moat about 20 m wide, which connected
these rivers and separated the castle from the city. Later, probably in
the 16th-17th centuries, an artificial lake was included in the system
of pre-castle fortifications from the east.
The castle courtyard
housed an Orthodox church (in 1533 it was moved to the city),
residential and utility buildings, from 1568 - a court, archive, prison.
The living quarters were located on the upper floors of the towers.
The castle has the shape of an irregular quadrangle. The longest is the northern wall, its length is 93.5 m. The southern wall is the shortest, 80 meters. The western and eastern walls are 84 and 83.5 meters long, respectively.
In 1383, after an assault, the castle was taken by the Crusaders and
partially destroyed. In 1392, detachments of German and English knights
and the army of their then ally, Prince Vitovt, besieged and took the
castle. The castle repeatedly fought off attacks: in 1406 - from the
detachments of the Smolensk Prince Yuri Svyatoslavich, in 1433 - from
the armies of Prince Svidrigaila, in 1506 - from the detachments of the
Crimean Tatars. In the summer of 1659, the castle was captured by the
army of the Russian Tsardom.
During the Great Northern War
(1700-1721), the castle was destroyed twice by the Swedes, who blew up
its towers. The last battle here took place in 1794 between Kosciuszko's
rebels, who defended themselves in the ruins of the castle, and the
Russian army.
In 1892, Lida burned down, and the fire destroyed the entire center,
including the 18th-century town hall. The city authorities began
dismantling and selling the castle buildings, using them to rebuild the
city. Sand was taken from the slopes of the castle hill. At that time,
the remains of the southwestern tower were almost completely destroyed
and part of the western wall was dismantled.
In the 1920s, the
castle buildings were slightly renovated by Polish restorers. In place
of the damaged northwestern corner, a wooden gate appeared, through
which one could enter the castle courtyard. In summer, a traveling
circus or menagerie often stayed here, and in winter, a Christmas tree
was put up in the middle of the courtyard and a skating rink was
flooded. In the summer of 1929, the famous artist Yazep Drozdovich
studied the castle and dedicated an album of sketches to it.
In
1955, Lida Castle was included in the list of architectural monuments
taken under state protection, although this did not stop its
destruction. In the following decades, a small stadium existed on the
castle grounds, and a traveling menagerie often stopped there.
In 1985, Lida Castle was completely preserved. Restoration work has been carried out (with interruptions) for the last two decades; the newly built parts of the fortress walls stand out in their brick color. Both towers have been reconstructed. Archaeological research was carried out here by Mikhail Tkachev, Oleg Trusov, Alexander Kravtsevich. Now the castle has become the center for knightly festivals. Currently, an exposition is located in two towers.