Location: Olesko, Lviv Obalst Map
Olesko Castle is a small medieval fortress that stands in a town of Olesko on the outskirts of Ukrainian city of Lviv. It was build in the 14th century making it one of the oldest Medieval castles in the Western Ukraine. Olesko Castle was constructed around 1327 near the village of Olesko of Busk Rayon near Lviv. It held a strategic location on the border between Galicia and Volhynia principalities and hence it became a disputed possession in constant wars between Poland, Lithuania and Hungary. National borders constantly changed and Olesko Castle became a bargaining chip between warring parties. Each of the owners increased its size and strengthened its military defenses.
It was first mentioned in historical sources in 1327: the castle
passed into the possession of Prince Yury II, the son of the
Masovian prince Troyden and his wife, the Russian princess Maria
(daughter of Yury I), who was invited by the boyars to the
Galician-Volyn royal (princely) throne after the extinction of the
Romanovich family. The date allows us to assume, as one of the
versions, that the castle was built by one of the sons of the
Galicia-Volyn prince Yuriy Lvovych — Andriy or Leo. Initially, it
was a low defensive structure of an oval shape that corresponded to
the topography of the hill. The wide yard, surrounded by a stone
wall, had one entrance with a gate and a tower. These walls are
partially preserved as the lower tier of the modern castle.
That period of history — the 13th century — was marked by terrible
events: Kievan Rus broke up into separate principalities and,
weakened by internal strife, lost its power and became a prey to
external enemies. In 1223, Genghis Khan's army defeated the wives of
Russian princes and their allies on the Kaltsi River. Burning
hillforts and destroying settlements, the Mongol-Tatar hordes rolled
to the western borders of Kyivan Rus. In 1241, Batia's troops
destroyed the ancient Croatian and ancient Russian city of Plisnesk,
which is located 10 kilometers from Olesk. The castle was built at a
time of severe trials for all Russian lands: they were enslaved by
the Mongol-Tatars, and Hungarian, Polish, and Lithuanian feudal
lords also encroached on them. In the middle of the 14th century,
the Chernihiv-Siver lands, Kyiv region, partially Podillia and
Volhynia came under the power of feudal Lithuania. Poland seized
Galicia and Western Volhynia; Bukovyna became part of the Moldavian
principality, Transcarpathia was conquered by Hungarian feudal
lords.
The Olesky castle stood on the border of Volhynia and
Halychyna, was on the border of Lithuania and Poland, for which
there was a constant struggle between these states. Since 1340, the
castle was owned by the Lithuanian prince Lubart. In 1366, it was
recaptured by the Polish king Casimir III the Great. When his nephew
Louis I, king of Poland and Hungary, ascended the throne, the castle
passed to Prince Władysław of Opole. The latter, pursuing a policy
of conquest and Catholicization of Galician lands and seeking from
Rome the right to create a separate Galician metropolitan of the
RCC, in 1375 handed over the Olesk fortress together with Rohatyn
and Tustan to the Galician Latin archbishop, the head of the newly
founded Galician archdiocese. This caused a protest by the Russian
population, and the castle was briefly captured by the rebels. In
1377, the king stationed Hungarian troops here, who 5 years later,
immediately after the death of Louis I, left the castle to Lubart
for a ransom.
In order to strengthen their position on the
Russian lands, the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of
Lithuania concluded a treaty in 1385 - the so-called Union of Krebs
- united into one state. The Grand Duke of Lithuania Władysław II
Jagailo married the Polish Queen Jadwiga and became the king of the
united state; the king's brother, Grand Duke Svydrygailo
Olherdovich, remained his governor in the Russian lands.
Subsequently, disputes began between the brothers: the Russian
boyars, who were hostile to the feudal-Catholic domination of the
Crown, supported Svidrigail.
Oleska fortress remained
impregnable for Polish magnates for half a century. In 1431, when
Jagailo was besieging Lutsk, Prince Casimir II of Belz (Mazovia)
marched on Olesko. But the fortress did not give in: its defense was
led by the owner of the castle, Bohdan Rohatynskyi (according to
other sources, Ivashko Presluzhych from Rohatyn). Local boyars
joined the peasant units.
After the conclusion of a truce
between Jahail and Svydryhail (September 2, 1431), the castles in
such cities as Kamianets-Podilskyi, Smotrych, Skala-Podilska, Ratne,
Vetly, Horodlo, Lopatyn passed into the hands of the Poles, while
Olesky remained to Svydryhail. The king forgave the Oles boyars for
their behavior, and on October 18 of that year, he issued them land
ownership documents. But on October 26, Svydrygail's soldiers from
the Oleska fortress broke the truce, attacked one of the courtyards
of the Polish judge, the son-in-law of the Russian noble Khodko
Loyevich, Stanislav "Ostashka" Davydovsky. According to the data of
the Polish researcher M. Wilyamovskyi, the yard was burned together
with the family.
At the end of 1432, after a long siege, the
Olesky Castle was captured by the troops of the Polish king.
An important light on the events of 1431-1432 is shed by the letter
of King Jagail, in which he forgave the Oles boyars (landlords) for
their participation in the anti-Polish struggle and support of Grand
Duke Svydrygail. This document was published by the Galician
historian Antoniy Prokhaska under the title "Royal Pardon of Oles
Zemmen in 1431". However, the text of the charter itself states that
it was issued later, namely in Lviv on the day of the evangelist
Luke, that is, October 18, the year of God 1432 — "datum Leopoli in
die sancti Luce evangeliste sub anno domini Millesimo
quadringentesimo tricesimo secundo." Thus, the royal charter could
be a pardon for the previous actions of the "Olesian lords and
landowners", but at the same time it was an ultimatum with the
demand to recognize the authority of the Polish king and take an
oath of loyalty.
At that time, as a result of a palace coup
provoked by the Poles, Sigismund Keistutovych was elected Grand Duke
of Lithuania in the Grand Duchy, who on October 15, 1432 issued a
charter on the settlement of relations with the Kingdom of Poland
and, in particular, border disputes. According to this document, the
Oleskyi Castle and the district were transferred to the Kingdom of
Poland. However, the Olesk landowners, like Prince Svydrygailo, did
not recognize this decision and continued the struggle. Without
waiting for the loyal delegation from the Olesky castle even after
the issuance of the letter of pardon, King Jagailo sent his best
court regiments to conquer the unruly stronghold.
The royal
charter preserved the names and surnames of local nobles (landlords)
who supported the Oles chieftain Ivashko Rohatynskyi. Their surnames
come from the names of the official estates of the Olesk castle:
Masko Kalenikovich was the owner of the Kalenyk (Kalenikovichi)
estate, which was located south of Olesk and was still mentioned as
a part of the city at the end of the 19th century. Cheremoshny
belonged to Olehnov Cheremosky, Kadlubytskyi to Ivashkov Mostych
(Luchkivtsi), Dzyurdz Strutynskyi to Strutyn, Senkov Smolenskyi to
Smilne, Demkov to Zhydivsky to Ozhidiv, Janush to Pidhoretsky to
Podhirtsk, to Nego Strybrodsky (Tribrodsky or Starobrodsky) to Stari
Brody, to Simon Beruinsky (Berlinsky) — Berlin, Hodkov
Khoros[chek](?) Zhulytsky — Zhulychi, Leon (Lev) Chesky — Chechy
(Lugove). Some inaccuracies in the surnames of Olesky Castle
employees could also be caused by the fact that the royal charter
was originally written in Russian (ancient Ukrainian), and later a
Latin version was made.
The liberation struggle of the Oles
units against the feudal-Catholic domination took place in parallel
with the anti-feudal, national-liberation and anti-Catholic Hussite
movement, which was a powerful prologue to the European reformation
of the 16th century.
After the acquisition of the Olesky
castle by the royal troops, it was transferred along with the
surrounding lands for eternal use to Jan of Senn, the son of
Dobieslav, whose descendants were called Olesky after Peter
Senensky. The last Russian fortress on the Galician lands fell - the
harsh oppression of the Russian people began, which lasted for
almost 6 centuries. A church was erected in Olesk as a symbol of the
Catholicization of the Russian population at the end of the 15th
century. The castle itself also underwent reconstruction — in
particular, a two-story residential building and a chapel were built
in the southeastern part. And in the yard, a deep well was dug - 42
m (due to the location of the castle on a hill, the groundwater
level is quite far away).
The second half of the 15th and the first half of the 16th
centuries were difficult times for local residents. In 1442 and
1453, the Tatar horde passed through here, smashing and looting
everything in its path. Around 1477, the heirs of Jan of Senn and
Olesk - widow Barbara and 5 sons - carried out a partial division of
the inheritance, according to which the castle remained their joint
property.
In 1512, the inhabitants of the surrounding
villages again gathered behind the fortress walls, defending
themselves from the attackers. This time the fortress could not
withstand the siege. After the departure of the enemies,
reconstruction began. But seven years later, the Tatars reappear
under the castle. One of its owners, Marcin Kamenetskyi, escaped,
and the other, Fryderyk Herburt, died heroically in the battle of
Sokal on August 2, 1519, together with his soldiers.
This was
the last Tatar attack on the castle. After that, life in Olesk and
its surroundings somewhat stabilized. Trade routes came to life.
Work has begun on strengthening the fortress walls and defensive
ramparts. The city began to receive tolls from Chumaks, who carried
salt from Dolyna in the direction of Lutsk. Craft workshops were
established.
Kamenetski had significant debts, in 1580
Stanislav Zholkevskii bought their share. The share of the Gerburts
went to Stanislav Danylovych as a result of the marriage union. In
1605, the Olesky castle with all the surrounding lands and estates
became the property of the great Russian tycoon Ivan Danylovych
after his marriage to Sofia Zholkevska.
Yan (Ivan) Danylovych
is a typical representative of the feudal elite. A highly educated
person, sensitive to humanistic ideas, he, however, did not miss
opportunities to improve his financial situation and climb the
career ladder. Not without calculation, he married a rich bride,
Kateryna Krasytka (for her dowry, he began building the castle). His
second wife was the daughter of the crown hetman Stanislav
Zholkivsky — Sofia, from whom he received land in the Chigyrin
region. It is possible to think that it was not without the help of
his father-in-law that Danylovych became a castellan of Lviv, and
from 1614 - voivode of Rus. He tried to arrange his daughters well.
Arrogance in the choice of suitors for them led to a tragic event in
the castle: Adam Zholkevskyi, in love with his daughter Marciana,
commits suicide in public. Danylovych gave his second daughter,
Teofilia, as the headman of Krasnostav Yakiv Sobesky. In 1629, she
gave birth to a son named after his grandfather, the future
conqueror of the Turks near Vienna, the Polish king Jan III
Sobieski.
The castle under Ivan Danylovych took on an almost
modern look. The chapel and adjacent premises were transformed into
a solid eastern building. At the other end, a rectangular western
one was built, part of which protruded beyond the old oval wall and
also reached two floors. There are arched galleries, elegant door
portals and window frames, abundant decor - in particular, the coat
of arms of the Danylovych family is carved on the entrance tower.
In 1613, the owner founded the town of Sasiv, built the first
school and hospital for peasants in Olesk. All this was created by
the labor and expense of peasants and artisans. The entire village
of Rozvazh was set apart for the maintenance of just one church and
a tithe was collected from the incomes of the villagers of
Yosypivka, Ozhidov, Kutiv, Stochyna, and Khvatov.
Danylovych
was the king's representative in Zaporozhye Sich and tried to live
in harmony with the Cossacks. Mykhailo Khmel, the father of Bohdan
Khmelnytskyi, was in his service in Olesk. When Ivan Danylovych
became the Chigyryn headman, he made Mykhailo Khmelnytskyi his
sub-headman, the family of the future hetman moved to the Subotiv
farm.
Danylovych's attitude towards the Khmelnytskyi was
revealed in his desire to redeem Mykhailo from Turkish captivity,
where he fell after the battle of Tetsora in 1620. Until recently,
it was believed that Mykhailo Khmelnytsky died during this battle,
but the discovered documents prove otherwise. As stated in
Danylovych's court complaint, in November 1627, captured Turks and
Tatars escaped from the castle. One of them, named Abdurahman, was
chased down in the village of Dobrovody; Danylovych planned to
exchange it for the captured sub-chief of Chigyryna Mykhailo Khmel,
valued at 500 red zlotys. It is not known whether the exchange took
place or was prevented by the death of the initiator.
Danylovych was going to make his son Stanislav his heir, he taught
him abroad. Upon his return, the young man stayed at the royal court
for some time, but after a fight with Vinnytsia's headman Adam
Kalinovsky, he fled from Kraków to Ukraine. In one of the skirmishes
with the Tatars, he was captured and killed in the tent of Murza
Kan-Temir. The second son, Jan, died as a child. Therefore, there
were no direct descendants left, and the castle passed to her
husband, Stefan Konetspolsky, as Marciana's dowry.
During the
Ukrainian People's War of Liberation, led by Bohdan Khmelnytskyi,
peasant-Cossack units liberated Olesko in 1648. The feudal lords
fled. However, soon the representative of the Konetspolsky family
returned to the castle again. Seeking to live in luxury, he divided
the estate among 17 creditors.
In 1681, Jan Sobieski, at that
time already the Polish king, having paid the debts of Koniecpolski,
took the castle for himself and repaired it from 1684 to 1687. The
building is completely covered with a new roof, utility rooms are
being built, and the park is being restored.
The war with the Swedes and the alliance of Peter I with the Poles
brought Russian troops to the Olesky Castle, which were stationed here
from 1707 for 5 years.
In 1716, the castle passed to the king's
son, Yakub, who 3 years later sold it to Stanislav Mateusz Zhevusky.
Zhevusky's son - Volyn voivode Severyn - lavishly decorated the
interiors, turning the building into a luxurious palace in the style of
the 18th century. Under the leadership of the French sculptor Leblanc,
they were decorated with fireplaces, stucco and paintings, the halls
were decorated in different styles. A low third floor for servants was
also added during this period.
After the death of Severyn Józef,
the castle was owned by his brother Václav Zhevusky for some time, in
1755 all the valuables from here were transported to the Pidgore Castle.
In 1796 Oleksandr Zelinsky bought Oleksandr Zelinsky. It was a time of
slow but steady destruction of the building. If at the very end of the
18th and the beginning of the 19th century significant reconstruction
works were carried out, then since the middle of the 19th century no one
has worked on the castle. In 1799, Vaclav Zalesky (Vaclav of Olesk),
author of the collection "Ukrainian and Polish songs of the Galician
population", was born in the city. Another literary event connected with
the castle was the stay here in 1820 of the writer Julian Nemtsevich,
who later described these lands in his works. In particular, Nemtsevich
mentioned: "The castle is in disrepair... the room where Sobesky was
born is completely destroyed, full of garbage... In another wing of the
castle, the rooms are better kept... one of them has portraits of
Sobesky, Zholkevsky, Konietspolsky and Kostyushka." The castle from the
auction went to Zelinsky. It should be noted that it suffered from
destruction many times, but, in spite of everything, it survived.
In 1806, the castle survived a fire. Since 1824, the estate has been
owned by the Litynskis, during which time it underwent the most
significant destruction. The earthquake on January 23, 1838 was
devastating for the mighty building - the walls cracked, and a number of
rooms became unsuitable for residential purposes. The owners themselves
damaged it no less. Somehow by chance in one of the rooms a walled
treasure was found. And since then, the frantic search for other jewels
began: walls with paintings were broken, fireplaces were destroyed,
floors were removed. In 1875, the well collapsed. At the end of the 19th
century, the Olesky castle turned into a ruin.
The castle was
bought for the money collected in Lviv in 1882, and it passed into the
hands of the state. There were different opinions about its use. It was
proposed to open a boarding school for students of the teachers'
seminary here. The Galician Diet considered it best to hand the building
over to the monastery. The following option was also considered: to
equip a folk school in one part of the premises, and in the other - a
Jan Sobieski museum. In response to this, one of the newspapers wrote in
1905: "What is the use of the people if they have a museum of monuments
of the Polish kings, but will not have bread to satisfy hunger?"
The cracked hull was strengthened from the outside with supports. In
1891, the roof and some rooms were restored, and in 1898 an agricultural
school was opened here. Another stage of restoration began in 1933, when
the interiors were slowly revived, the gate and the road to it were
built. In 1939, under the Soviet government, work was suspended, and the
school was closed. During the Second World War, Andrii Vlasov's division
was stationed here, and prisoners of war were also held here. Later,
military warehouses were located. In the post-war period, the castle was
neglected, and a serious fire in 1951 destroyed it down to the bare
walls - roofs with overlaps burned and stucco fell off.
A thorough restoration and the creation of a museum brought the castle out of its state of ruin. In 1954, they began to create a restoration project, and in 1958, the actual construction work began, which was mostly completed by 1965. There were plans to adapt the fortress into a holiday home. However, the castle was transferred to the Lviv Art Gallery for museum purposes. In 1970-1974, under the leadership of Boris Voznytskyi, the restoration of the castle as an architectural monument continued, it was returned to the appearance of the period of greatest prosperity - the end of the 18th century. By 1975, the exposition was created, and the museum opened. In 1989, it received the status of a reserve museum.
The diversity of the collections of the Lviv Art Gallery made it
possible to create a unique exhibition, reminiscent of castle
exhibitions in other cities, but quite different from them. The stormy
history of the castle did not contribute to the preservation of many
authentic things, so authenticity is represented by the facades of the
building, castle portals, heraldic stone reliefs.
Museumized
basement rooms and rooms on the first floor, which in ancient times were
used as households. The second and third floors were residential.
Wherever there were remnants of ancient interior decorations, they were
restored.
The palatial character of the interior is partially
preserved in the modern museum hall No. 6. The sculptor Leblanc worked
on the project in the second half of the 18th century. At the same time,
the decorative stucco on the northern wall and the cornice near the
ceiling were made. In the 18th century, the ceiling was decorated with a
ceiling on a mythological theme (the Abduction of Europe).
The
alcove was decorated with an easel mosaic. A mixture of paint, plaster,
crushed marble and alabaster was applied to the wall, combining
different colors that imitated natural marble. Mosaics create
architectural details, additionally decorated with garlands of fruits
and flowers. Damaged mosaics have been preserved in three halls and have
been partially restored. The palatial character of these halls is
enhanced by the original furniture of the 17th and 18th centuries and
two full-length wooden sculptures - allegories of virtues.
Among
the exhibits of the castle:
ancient unglazed frame tiles of the 12th
century;
Ukrainian icons;
portrait of Mykola Vasyl Pototsky;
four portraits of the Zhevuskys, rescued from the palace in Rozdol;
Renaissance marble bust of Queen Varvara Radziwill;
funeral Polish
portraits;
decorative composition "Bacchus and Ariadne" (artist Yuri
Semigynovsky, who studied in Rome in the 17th century);
samples of
wooden sculpture (including works by Pinzel and his students);
tombstone of Anna Senyavska, saved from the ruins of the castle chapel
in Berezhany (plaster, 1574, late revival);
Western European
tapestries of the Baroque and Mannerism era ("Polyphemus", "Odyssey",
etc.).
Once the castle had a small regular garden and landscape park.
Without proper care, they died. Restoration work in the castle was
carried over to the surrounding areas, wild thickets were tidied up,
several lawns were made, and several modern sculptures were installed.
Approx. planted in the park four thousand trees and bushes, including:
Catalpa bignonia
American tulip tree
Common yew
Birch
Pine
Reservoirs are also regulated. The Libertsia River has returned to
its old course around the Olesky Castle.
As of 2021, tourists have the opportunity to buy souvenir
certificates of nobility in the castle and take a picture with the
hetman, dressed in a stylized costume of the 17th century.
In
philately and numismatics
In 2017, the national postal operator
"Ukrposhta" issued the postage stamp "Olesky Castle of the XIII-XVIII
centuries." in the denomination of UAH 5.80. The stamp, which was issued
under the Europa program, represented Ukraine in the annual ranking of
postage stamps, which is conducted by the association of state postal
operators of Europe, PostEurop.
On August 17, 2021, the National Bank
of Ukraine put into circulation a silver commemorative coin with a
denomination of 10 hryvnias "Olesky Castle". It belongs to the series
"Architectural Monuments of Ukraine"