Dubno Castle ( uk, Дубенський замок, Dubens'kyi zamok, pl, Zamek w Dubnie) was founded in 1492 by Prince

Konstantin Ostrogski Konstanty Iwanowicz Ostrogski (c. 1460 – 10 August 1530; lt, Konstantinas Ostrogiškis; uk, Костянтин Іванович Острозький, translit=Kostiantyn Ivanovych Ostrozkyi; be, Канстантын Іванавіч Ас� ...

on a

promontory A promontory is a raised mass of land that projects into a lowland or a body of water (in which case it is a peninsula). Most promontories either are formed from a hard ridge of rock that has resisted the erosive forces that have removed the so ...

overlooking the

Ikva River The Ikva ( uk, Іква) is a river in Ukraine and a right tributary of the Styr River that flows through Lviv Oblast, Ternopil Oblast and Rivne Oblast in the Volhynian Upland.Zabokrytska, M. Ikva (І́КВА)'. Encyclopedia of Modern Ukraine. It ...

not far from the ancient

Ruthenia Ruthenia or , uk, Рутенія, translit=Rutenia or uk, Русь, translit=Rus, label=none, pl, Ruś, be, Рутэнія, Русь, russian: Рутения, Русь is an exonym, originally used in Medieval Latin as one of several terms ...

n fort of

Dubno Dubno ( uk, Ду́бно) is a city and municipality located on the Ikva River in Rivne Oblast (province) of western Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Dubno Raion (district). The city is located on intersection of two major Eu ...

Volhynia Volhynia (also spelled Volynia) ( ; uk, Воли́нь, Volyn' pl, Wołyń, russian: Волы́нь, Volýnʹ, ), is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between south-eastern Poland, south-western Belarus, and western Ukraine. Th ...

. Ostrogski castle was rebuilt in stone in the early 16th century under the Lithuanian rule when the city was part of the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Li ...

. It had a

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

, a two-story

palace A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...

, and an impressive array of 73

cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

s. It was there that the treasury of the Ostrogski family was kept. These fabulous treasures brought the predatory

Crimean Tatars , flag = Flag of the Crimean Tatar people.svg , flag_caption = Flag of Crimean Tatars , image = Love, Peace, Traditions.jpg , caption = Crimean Tatars in traditional clothing in front of the Khan's Palace ...

to the castle on several occasions (at least two in 1577 alone). Prince

Janusz Ostrogski Prince Janusz Ostrogski () (1554 – 17 September 1620 in Tarnów) was a Polish-Lithuanian noble and statesman. He served as a voivode of Volhyn (1584-1593), as a castellan of Kraków (from 1593 on), and as a starosta of Bohuslav (from 1591), B ...

, the last of his family, undertook major renovations of the castle in the early 17th century. He made use of the ''trace itallienne'', or "Italian style" of fortification, to transform Dubno into the most advanced fort in the region. Prince Janusz's palace still stands in Dubno. During the

Khmelnytsky Uprising The Khmelnytsky Uprising,; in Ukraine known as Khmelʹnychchyna or uk, повстання Богдана Хмельницького; lt, Chmelnickio sukilimas; Belarusian language, Belarusian: Паўстанне Багдана Хмяльніц ...

, the vicinity of Dubno Castle was the scene of heavy fighting between the

Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Ce ...

and the

Cossacks The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...

, some of it described by

Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; uk, link=no, Мико́ла Васи́льович Го́голь, translit=Mykola Vasyliovych Hohol; (russian: Яновский; uk, Яновський, translit=Yanovskyi) ( – ) was a Russian novelist, ...

in the novella ''

Taras Bulba ''Taras Bulba'' (russian: «Тарас Бульба»; ) is a romanticized historical novella set in the first half of the 17th century, written by Nikolai Gogol (1809-1852). It features elderly Zaporozhian Cossack Taras Bulba and his sons And ...

'' (1835). The castle passed to Polish Prince

Władysław Dominik Zasławski Prince Wladysław Dominik Zasławski-Ostrogski (ca. 1616 – 1656) was a Polish nobleman ( szlachcic) of Ruthenian stock. Prince of the Princely Houses of Poland, Ostroh Ordynat, Grand Koniuszy of The Crown. Zasławski was the most powerfu ...

as part of the Ostroh inheritance and survived a Russian siege in 1660. In the 18th century Dubno lost much of its military relevance. Some of the fortifications gave way to a plain rectangular palace of two stories, commissioned in the 1780s by Prince Stanisław Lubomirski from architects

Henryk Ittar Henryk may refer to: * Henryk (given name) * Henryk, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, a village in south-central Poland * Henryk Glacier, an Antarctic glacier See also * Henryk Batuta hoax, an internet hoax * Henrykian articles The Henrician Article ...

and

Domenico Merlini Domenico Merlini () (22 February 1730 – 20 February 1797) was an Italian-Polish architect whose work was mostly in the classical style. Life and Style From 1750 till his death, Merlini lived in Poland. In 1768, he became a nobleman and later ...

. The palace's interior layout and design did not survive the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. After the Lubomirskis sold their Dubno residence to Princess Boryatinsky in 1871, the castle was subjected to a new campaign of remodeling. It held a notable military garrison of the

Border Defence Corps The Border Protection Corps ( pl, Korpus Ochrony Pogranicza, KOP) was a military formation of the Second Polish Republic that was created in 1924 to defend the country's eastern borders against armed Soviet incursions and local bandits. Other b ...

. The old

barbican A barbican (from fro, barbacane) is a fortified outpost or fortified gateway, such as at an outer fortifications, defense perimeter of a city or castle, or any tower situated over a gate or bridge which was used for defensive purposes. Europe ...

was transformed in the 1920s into a

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

where about 550 political prisoners were executed by the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

in 1941.

References

* Памятники градостроительства и архитектуры Украинской ССР. В 4-х томах. Гл. редкол.: Н. Л. Жариков. -К.: Будівельник, 1983–1986. Том 3, с. 301.

External links

* {{coord, 50, 25, N, 25, 45, E, source:ruwiki_region:UA_type:landmark, format=dms, display=title Castles in Ukraine Buildings and structures in Rivne Oblast Palaces in Ukraine Buildings and structures completed in 1492 Ostrogski family