Olesko Castle ( uk, Олеський замок, pl, Zamek w Olesku) is located within the borders of present-day Zolochiv Raion in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. The first historical records of the castle are in a document dated 1390, when

Pope Boniface IX Pope Boniface IX ( la, Bonifatius IX; it, Bonifacio IX; c. 1350 – 1 October 1404, born Pietro Tomacelli) was head of the Catholic Church from 2 November 1389 to his death in October 1404. He was the second Roman pope of the Western Schism.Rich ...

gave Olesko and Tustan to a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

bishop of

Halych Halych ( uk, Га́лич ; ro, Halici; pl, Halicz; russian: Га́лич, Galich; german: Halytsch, ''Halitsch'' or ''Galitsch''; yi, העליטש) is a historic city on the Dniester River in western Ukraine. The city gave its name to the P ...

. It is located about seventy-five kilometers from

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukrain ...

, the largest city in western Ukraine.

Location

Olesko Castle, oval in shape, stands on top of a small hill, about fifty meters in height. A moat and a wall surrounds it, which serves as a defence for the castle. The castle is also surrounded by a dense swamp. The land that the castle sat on changed ownership many times. It was originally on the border of land of

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. The ...

and land of

. The castle was, at different times, owned by

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, Lithuania, and

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

. It became a political landmark in the 14th century when movable borders between the three aforementioned countries ran through its territory. Battles for ownership of the castle were constant. A deep well in the basement of the castle was used as an escape route for besieged prisoners.

Inhabitants

In the 15th century, the castle was changed from being a defense point, to simply a getaway for aristocracy. In 1605, the castle was bought by the nobleman Jan Daniłowicz h. Sas, a wealthy local landowner and

Voivode Voivode (, also spelled ''voievod'', ''voevod'', ''voivoda'', ''vojvoda'' or ''wojewoda'') is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe since the Early Middle Ages. It primarily referred to the ...

of the Ruthenian Voivodeship. It was then sold to the family of

Koniecpolski The House of Koniecpolski (plural: Koniecpolscy) is the name of the Polish noble family. History The Koniecpolski was a magnate family. The family appears in the historical annals beginning in the 15th century. The family originated from the vi ...

. The new owners, whose main residence was in

Zhovkva Zhovkva ( uk, Жовква ; pl, Żółkiew; yi, זאָלקוואַ, translit=Zolkva; russian: Жо́лква, 1951–1992: ''Nesterov'') is a city in Lviv Raion, Lviv Oblast (region) of western Ukraine. Zhovkva hosts the administration of Z ...

, treated the castle poorly, and only in 1682 the castle was renovated by

Jan III Sobieski John III Sobieski ( pl, Jan III Sobieski; lt, Jonas III Sobieskis; la, Ioannes III Sobiscius; 17 August 1629 – 17 June 1696) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1674 until his death in 1696. Born into Polish nobility, Sobie ...

, who bought the complex from Stanislaw Koniecpolski for 400,000 zlotys. In early 18th century, Olesko was bought by the family of Rzewuski, and its collection of antiques was moved to another castle the Rzewuscy owned,

Pidhirtsi Castle Pidhirtsi Castle ( uk, Підгорецький замок; pl, zamek w Podhorcach) is a residential castle-fortress located in the village of Pidhirtsi in Lviv Oblast (province) western Ukraine, located eighty kilometers east of Lviv. It was co ...

. The castle is perhaps most famous for being the birthplace of the

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

king

, the hero of the Battle of Vienna. He often lived there, and collected many of the artworks displayed in the present-day museum. Another Polish king, King

Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki Michael I ( pl, Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki, lt, Mykolas I Kaributas Višnioveckis; 31 May 1640 – 10 November 1673) was the ruler of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 29 September 1669 un ...

, was also born here. It is also said that Bohdan

Khmelnytskyi Khmelnytskyi ( uk, Хмельни́цький, Khmelnytskyi, ), until 1954 Proskuriv ( uk, Проску́рів, links=no ), is a city in western Ukraine, the administrative center for Khmelnytskyi Oblast (region) and Khmelnytskyi Raion (dist ...

, the most prominent leaders of Ukrainian Cossacks spent his childhood years here.

Restorations

The castle was restored in the late 16th to the early 17th centuries. Paintings and mosaics were brought in to decorate the different rooms of the castle. The castle was remodeled in the

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...

style, which was popular at that time. In 1838, an

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...

rocked the castle, partly destroying some areas. In 1882, the castle, regarded as a Polish national monument was bought by the Committee of Preservation of the Olesko Castle, which led to a restoration in 1892. Both

World War I 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 ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

affected the castle negatively, undoing previous restoration work. In 1956, the castle was struck by lightning. The castle was restored again, beginning in 1961 and lasting until 1985. Today, it is a museum, displaying the collections of antique furnishings and art dating from the 16th-17th centuries. It also features

sculptures Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

paintings Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

, still lives,

applied arts The applied arts are all the arts that apply design and decoration to everyday and essentially practical objects in order to make them aesthetically pleasing."Applied art" in ''The Oxford Dictionary of Art''. Online edition. Oxford Univ ...

tapestries Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven by hand on a loom. Tapestry is weft-faced weaving, in which all the warp threads are hidden in the completed work, unlike most woven textiles, where both the warp and the weft threads may ...

, period weapons, and objects used in everyday life at the time. Its collection is regarded as one of the richest treasury of Polish art outside borders of Poland. The castle is a part of the "Golden Horseshoe", a ring of three castles nearby each other: Olesko, Pidhirtsi, and Zolochiv Castles. File:Boguszowicz Taniec Salome.jpg, ''Dance of Salome'', Szymon Boguszowicz File:Siemiginowski Bachus i Ariadna.jpg, ''Bacchus and Ariadne'', Jerzy Siemiginowski-Eleuter File:Czechowicz Dzieciątko Jezus wśród aniołów.jpg, ''The Christ Child sleeping among angels'',

Szymon Czechowicz Szymon Czechowicz (July 1689 – 21 July 1775) was a prominent Polish painter of the Baroque, considered one of the most accomplished painters of 18th century sacral painting in Poland. He specialized in sublime effigies of painted figures. ...

File:Michał Józef Rzewuski.jpg, ''Portrait of Michał Józef Rzewuski'', Marcello Bacciarelli File:Chojnicki Portret damy.jpg, ''Portrait of a lady'', Józef Chojnicki

References

Castles.org
- Olesko Castle
lvivecotour.com
- Olesko Castle Tour in English]
MyUkraine

External links

Medieval restaurant Hrydnytsya inside Olesko castle
{{Castles in Ukraine Castles in Ukraine, Olesko Royal residences in Ukraine Buildings and structures in Lviv Oblast Museums in Lviv Oblast Historic house museums in Ukraine

Location

Inhabitants

Restorations

See also

References

External links