Biržai Castle (, ) is a 16th century

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

Biržai Biržai (, also known by several alternative names) is a city in northern Lithuania. Famous for its reconstructed Biržai Castle manor, the whole region is renowned for its many traditional-recipe beer breweries. Name The exact origin of th ...

, northern

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

. It is located in

Aukštaitija Aukštaitija (; literally ''Highland'' or ''Upland'') is the name of one of five ethnographic regions of Lithuania. The name comes from the fact that the lands are in the upper basin of the Nemunas, as opposed to the Lowlands that begin from Š ...

region,

Panevėžys County Panevėžys County () is one of ten counties of Lithuania, counties in Lithuania. It is in the north-east of the country, and its Capital (political), capital is Panevėžys. On 1 July 2010, the county administration was abolished, and since tha ...

. The castle was the first Italian-style

bastion fort A bastion fort or ''trace italienne'' (a phrase derived from non-standard French, meaning 'Italian outline') is a fortification in a style developed during the early modern period in response to the ascendancy of gunpowder weapons such as c ...

in Lithuania and one of the first in North-Eastern Europe. The well-preserved castle (most recently restored in 2013) now houses a museum, a library and a restaurant. Construction of the earth bastion-type castle started in 1586 by the order of Krzysztof "Piorun" Radziwiłł (Kristupas Radvila „Perkūnas“). In 1575, preparing for this construction, a

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

was built on the Agluona and Apaščia rivers at their confluence, and the artificial Lake Širvėna, covering about , was created. Major works were finished in 1589. Since the second half of the 17th century, the castle has been the main seat of the Biržai- Dubingiai Radziwiłł (Radvila) family line, which was transferred here from the Dubingiai Castle. Biržai Castle served as an essential Lithuanian stronghold during the wars with Sweden. The castle was reconstructed from ruins in the 1980s, in the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

style. The residential manor of the castle houses a library and a regional history museum "Sėla" (literally ''

Selonia Selonia (; ), also known as Augšzeme (the "Highland"), is one of the Historical Latvian Lands encompassing the eastern part of the historical region of Semigallia () as well as a portion of northeastern Lithuania. Its main city and cultural ce ...

''), founded in 1928.

History

Duke Krzysztof Radziwiłł built the largest and strongest, at that time, Italian-style bastion fortress in Lithuania for the protection of his lands and the northern Lithuanian border with

Livonia Livonia, known in earlier records as Livland, is a historical region on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the Livonians, who lived on the shores of present-day Latvia. By the end of the 13th century, the name was extende ...

. Works began in 1575 with the construction of a dam at the confluence of the Apasčia and Agluona rivers. In 1586-1589, the embankments were poured. A stately

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

, an Evangelical-Reformed Church, an

arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and food storehouses,

barracks Barracks are buildings used to accommodate military personnel and quasi-military personnel such as police. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word 'soldier's tent', but today barracks ar ...

and other buildings were built. The fortress and the town formed an integrated defensive complex. Construction was completed in 1589. The

Grand Duke of Lithuania This is a list of Lithuanian monarchs who ruled Lithuania from its inception until the fall of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1795. The Lithuanian monarch bore the title of Grand duke, Grand Duke, with the exception of Mindaugas, who was crown ...

and

King of Poland Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of Royal elections in Poland, free election of monarchs made it a uniquely electab ...

Sigismund III Vasa Sigismund III Vasa (, ; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632 N.S.) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden from 1592 to 1599. He was the first Polish sovereign from the House of Vasa. Re ...

, and later his descendants, did not give up their claim to the Swedish throne and led Lithuania and Poland into years of war with Sweden, during which on 7 August 1625, the castle was besieged by about 8000 Swedish troops. The siege was led by the Swedish King

Gustav II Adolf Gustavus Adolphus (9 December N.S 19 December">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 19 December15946 November Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 16 November] 1632), also known in English as ...

. After a second siege on 7 September 1625, the castle garrison surrendered and the stronghold was destroyed. The Swedes took 60 cannons with them. In 1627, a treaty was signed with the

King of Sweden The monarchy of Sweden is centred on the monarchical head of state of Sweden,See the #IOG, Instrument of Government, Chapter 1, Article 5. by law a constitutional monarchy, constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system.Parl ...

, according to which the castle was returned to the Radvilas. In 1637, Duke Krzysztof II Radziwiłł began a major rebuilding of the fortress, not only restoring the castle but also transforming the type of fortification, replacing the Italian style with the Dutch style. Following the plan of the Dutch bastion castles, the embankments were rebuilt by the architect Georgas Pirkas and a new manor house was built. In 1640, Janusz II Radziwiłł, the future Grand Hetman of Lithuania and son of Krzysztof, inherited Biržai, continued the reconstruction of the castle. In the autumn of 1655, the castle again changed hands and passed to the Swedes. On 20 August 1659, the castle was recaptured by the

dragoon Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat wi ...

s of

Bogusław Radziwiłł Bogusław Radziwiłł (; 3 May 1620 – 31 December 1669) was a Polish princely magnate and a member of the Polish-Lithuanian ''szlachta'', or nobility. He was of the Radziwiłł magnate family. By birth he was an Imperial Prince of the ...

. Between 1659 and 1669, the embankments and the dam were repaired, and a new manor house, barracks, arsenal and gate tower were built according to the design of architect Teofilis Krell-Spinovskis. After the death of Bogusław Radziwiłł in 1669, the last male descendant of the Biržai-Dubingiai branch of the Radvila family, the restoration of the castle ceased. In his will, Bogusław Radziwiłł left all his property to his daughter

Ludwika Karolina Radziwiłł Princess Ludwika Karolina Radziwiłł (; 27 February 1667 – 25 March 1695) was a magnate Princess of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and an active reformer. Life Ludwika Karolina Radziwiłł was born in K ...

. The reconstruction of the fortress was resumed in 1671 and lasted until 1682. The rebuilt stronghold was much larger than the first. On 26 February 1701, during the

Great Northern War In the Great Northern War (1700–1721) a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the ant ...

Augustus II the Strong Augustus II the Strong (12 May 1670 – 1 February 1733), was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1697 to 1706 and from 1709 until his death in 1733. He belonged to the Albertine branch of the H ...

, King of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and

Elector of Saxony The Electorate of Saxony, also known as Electoral Saxony ( or ), was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356 to 1806 initially centred on Wittenberg that came to include areas around the cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz. It was a ...

, and

Peter the Great Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...

Tsar of Russia The Tsar of all Russia, formally the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, was the title of the Russian monarch from 1547 to 1721. During this period, the state was a tsardom. The first Russian monarch to be crowned as tsar was Ivan ...

, signed the anti-Swedish Treaty of Biržai at the castle. In 1704, the Swedish General

Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt (15 April 1659 – 12 February 1719) was a Swedish general, particularly known for his participation in the Great Northern War. Biography He was born on 15 April 1659 in a Swedish fortified camp near Copenhagen. He atten ...

's army retook the fortress. The Swedes retreated and blew up the castle and other buildings of the stronghold. In 1811 Biržai Castle passed to the

Tyszkiewicz family The House of Tyszkiewicz (, singular: , , singular: , , singular: , , singular: , , singular: ) was a wealthy and influential Polish-Lithuanian (adjective), Polish-Lithuanian magnate family of Ruthenians, Ruthenian origin, with roots traced to t ...

(Tiškevičiai). In 1822, the Emperor

Alexander I of Russia Alexander I (, ; – ), nicknamed "the Blessed", was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first king of Congress Poland from 1815, and the grand duke of Finland from 1809 to his death in 1825. He ruled Russian Empire, Russia during the chaotic perio ...

ordered the preservation of the castle's remains. At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, a garden was planted in the courtyard. In 1931 a sculptural bust of Jonušas Radvila was erected (sculptor

Juozas Zikaras Juozas Zikaras (November 18, 1881 – November 10, 1944) was a Lithuanian sculptor and artist, who created the design for pre-war Lithuanian litas coins. He is considered to be one of the first professional Lithuanian sculptors. Biography He was ...

). In 1955-62 the remains of the manor house were conserved, in 1978-86 the castle was restored; in 1989 the Biržai Region Museum SĖLA was opened there. File:1985 07 01 5Biržųpilis6.jpg, Castle restorantion in 1985. File:195406Biržųpilis2.jpg, Ruins of the Biržai Castle in 1954 File:BirzaiCastleArsenal2018.jpg, Arsenal File:Biržai manor - panoramio.jpg, Bridge

References

External links

The Association of Castles and Museums around the Baltic Sea
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Birzai Castle Houses completed in 1589 Renaissance architecture in Lithuania Castles in Lithuania Museums in Panevėžys County Buildings and structures in Panevėžys County Tourist attractions in Panevėžys County Castles of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Castles and palaces of the Radziwiłł family Biržai

History

See also

References

External links