Castle Golshansky (Belarus): history and legends

2024 Author: Harold Hamphrey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:06

In Belarus, in the town of Golshany, there is an interesting architectural object. Golshansky Castle, or rather, its ruins, are of great interest to historians and architects. A small Belarusian settlement has long attracted tourists from all over the world with its palace and castle ensemble, which once belonged to the Sapieha family.

Despite the fact that today only the ruins of the once magnificent building have survived, the Golshansky Castle remains one of the most mysterious places in the country. Ghosts, accidents, inexplicable anomalous phenomena - all this envelops the mysterious castle like an invisible cloud. Its ancient walls are saturated with mysticism and secrets…

Golshansky castle - history

Today, thousands of travelers come to Belarus to see the mysterious palace. Probably, many readers are interested in where the Golshany Castle is located? It is located in a small village, at the intersection of roads from Oshmyany to Novogrudok and Smorgon. This settlement is very different from other Belarusian villages - its own world of legends and legends reigns here. It was here that V. Korotkevich, who wrote his famous novel The Black Castle of Olshansky, drew inspiration, here (according to localresidents) walk the White Pani and the mysterious Black Monk, here the walls of the once magnificent Golshansky Palace grow old and dilapidated.

The history of this settlement began in 1280. There are references to this in the Chronicle of Bykhovets. It says that the brother of Prince Narimund (Golsha), crossed the river Viliya, discovered a very beautiful mountain, and founded a city there, which he called Golshany.

The Golshansky family was noble and rich. The heirs of the famous family occupied high positions in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and beautiful representatives of the family became the wives of kings. For example, Uliana Golshanskaya became the wife of Prince Vitovt Keystutovich, and Sophia Golshanskaya made King Jagiello happy. It started the famous royal Jagiellonian dynasty.

For Golshany, the beginning of the 17th century turned out to be significant - at that time a magnificent palace appeared on this land, the pride of the principality. Its construction was conceived by Pavel Sapega, the cousin of Lev Sapieha. Unfortunately, he was destined to become the first and only owner of a magnificent castle of this kind. After himself, he left no heirs.

In 1880 a certain Gorbanev owned the castle. By his order, part of the structure was dismantled, and a tavern was built of brick. Until 1939, people lived in this magnificent castle. Unfortunately, in Soviet times, the palace completely lost its appearance - they continued to dismantle it in order to build a House of Culture and a pigsty.

Description of the palace

Judging by the preserveddocuments, we alth and luxury struck Golshansky castle. Not much is known about its interior today. Researchers claim that to the right of the entrance was a large square hall, with four massive columns. They were the support of the cross vaults. The walls of the palace were decorated with portraits, tapestries, expensive collectible weapons.

Windows overlooking the castle courtyard were decorated with stained-glass windows. The floor was tiled. The castle was admired by contemporaries, it was often called the "Stone Flower". Receptions and balls were arranged here by Pavel Sapieha. It is worth noting that he lived quite widely, not counting the means. Therefore, after his death, Golshany was divided between his creditors.

The castle was built in the tradition of Dutch architecture. Outwardly, it was very reminiscent of another famous palace of Belarus - Mirsky. In plan, it is a rectangle made up of residential buildings, which created a closed territory of the yard. Defensive turrets, six-sided towers, rose in the corners of the palace, and a fortification tower with an entrance tunnel to the courtyard was built in the center of one wall.

Golshansky castle, the photo of which you see in our article, was built as a defensive structure, but over time, its powerful walls were replaced by the facade of a residential building. The central entrance tower was removed, and the corner towers were significantly reduced in width, but increased in height. The defense of the palace was replaced by a system of earthen ditches and ramparts. Their remains are still preserved.

First andThe Second World Wars practically destroyed the unique work of the great architects of that time, only ruins remained of the famous palace in Golshany.

Architectural style

Today, researchers are arguing about the style of the Golshansky castle - because now it is quite difficult to determine it by the picturesque ruins. Therefore, often their opinions do not coincide. Some believe that the palace is a vivid example of the Baroque architectural style. Others are sure that the features of the Dutch Renaissance are clearly visible here. However, they all agree that the builders used the Dutch system, creating earthen ramparts and wide ditches.

Entrance Portal

Golshansky castle (Belarus) in the center of one of the buildings had a main entrance. The facade on this side was quite plain. An arched portal framed an archivolt.

On the opposite side, symmetrically to the entrance, there was a small chapel. It was built into a residential building.

We have already mentioned that the Golshansky castle is surrounded by secrets and myths. The legends about him are passed down from generation to generation. We will tell you some of them in this article.

The Legend of the Black Monk

Once upon a time, a poor young man fell in love with the beautiful Princess Hanna Golshanskaya. A girl from a noble family answered him in return. Very soon the father of the princess found out about their secret meetings. In order to maintain family honor, he decided to severely punish the unfortunate young man. Following medieval traditions, he ordered that his beloved daughter be walled up in one of the walls of the castle. FROMSince then, the restless soul of a young man wanders through the cellars and galleries of the castle. She is called the shadow of the Black Monk, which terrifies rare passers-by.

The Legend of the White Lady

This story is more popular in Golshany. It allegedly happened during the construction of the Franciscan monastery, which was located near the castle.

The builders who built the monastery were promised a large reward if they completed the work on time. But something did not work out for the masters - one of the walls constantly cracked and collapsed several times. Then the workers came to the conclusion that in order to successfully complete the work, a sacrifice should be made. They decided that the woman who first appears in this place will become the very unfortunate one. It turned out to be the wife of a young worker, she was walled up in a collapsing wall.

Many believe that this legend is based on true events. During the excavations carried out in 2000 in the monastery, the skeleton of a girl with traces of violent death was found under the wall. The workers who discovered the remains and buried them on their own without a funeral service died very soon, but the strangest thing was that the grave could not be found later.

An ancient legend tells about this girl, or not, it is not known, but the soul, which is called the White Panna, still roams the monastery. The townspeople claim that in recent years they began to meet her more and more often. The locals say that she doesn't like men very much (and there is a reason), after meeting with the White Pani people for a whilelose their orientation in space.

Legend of the windmill

The mill mentioned in the legend is located at the beginning of the town. Now only the walls remain. But at night, she comes to life and "starts to work." People claim that they can clearly hear the creaking of millstones, the neighing of horses, and the sound of a miller.

Castle Anomalies

If you happen to visit the Golshansky castle, the residents will definitely tell you one more story. Nearly twenty years ago, perhaps more, a teacher at a local school promised his students that he would let them go on vacation earlier if they brought him eighty bricks. The schoolchildren followed them to the castle, where one of the boys died - he was filled up by a collapsed wall. Residents of Golshany believe that this did not happen by chance. They refer to the same anomalies as the sound of an old mill that has been empty for a long time on the outskirts of the village.

Scientists came to Golshany several times to check how true these stories are. Everyone agrees that there are anomalous phenomena here.

Golshansky castle today

Once upon a time, the luxurious Golshansky castle is called by many a real open-air museum - here you can see the remains of towers and walls, arched ceilings. Every year, thousands of tourists come here to see the ruins of the ancient structure, because this place has gained a reputation as one of the most mysterious in Belarus.

Recently, the castle has undergone a small cleaningterritory from the brick that had accumulated near the walls over the years. The outlines of palaces and walls came through more distinctly, as they were half littered with broken bricks.

It is a pity that this work was carried out with the use of bulldozers - a lot of the historical and cultural layer was rolled into a huge garbage heap. The authorities plan to begin the reconstruction of the palace at the end of 2015.

Golshansky castle - how to get there

If you are going to visit Golshansky Castle in the near future, you can choose two ways - use public transport or go on a trip by private car.

In the first case, you need to take a bus in Minsk (Eastern Bus Station), following the route Minsk - Traby, which will take you to Golshany.

By car, you should go to the Moscow Ring Road - Minsk Ring Road. Take the exit onto the M6 (about 65.4 km). Then turn right and drive straight for 3.4 km. After that, at the roundabout, take the 2nd exit. Continue on H8245 (12 km).