Zolochiv Castle was a residence of the
Sobieski noble family on a hill at the confluence of two small rivers in the south-eastern part of
Zolochiv ( pl, Złoczów),
Galicia
Galicia may refer to:
Geographic regions
* Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain
** Gallaecia, a Roman province
** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia
** The medieval King ...
(now part of
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 inva ...
's
Lviv Oblast
Lviv Oblast ( uk, Льві́вська о́бласть, translit=Lvivska oblast, ), also referred to as Lvivshchyna ( uk, Льві́вщина, ), ). The name of each oblast is a relational adjective—in English translating to a noun adjunct w ...
).
The rectangular fort was built in 1634-36 by
Jakub Sobieski
Jakub Sobieski (5 May 1590 – 23 June 1646) was a Polish noble, parliamentarian, diarist, political activist, military leader and father of King John III Sobieski. He was the son of castellan and voivode Marek Sobieski and Jadwiga Snopko ...
using the labor of enslaved
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 ...
. The Sobieski castle comprised solid walls in a then-current
Dutch style, with four pentagonal towers at each corner, and the so-called "grand palace". The
Chinese Palace, a diminutive
mauve
Mauve (, ; , ) is a pale purple color named after the mallow flower (French: ''mauve''). The first use of the word ''mauve'' as a color was in 1796–98 according to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'', but its use seems to have been rare befo ...
-colored
rotunda flanked by one-storey wings, was added later in the century as
John III's gift to his
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
-born wife,
Queen Marie.
In 1672, the castle was taken after a 6-days siege by the
Turks
Turk or Turks may refer to:
Communities and ethnic groups
* Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages
* Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation
* Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...
under
Kapudan Pasa. Three years later, it survived a new siege by the Ottoman army. After
Jakub Ludwik Sobieski
James Louis Henry Sobieski ( Polish: ''Jakub Ludwik Henryk Sobieski''; French: ''Jacques Louis Henri de Sobieski'') 2 November 1667 – 19 December 1737) was a Polish-French nobleman, politician, diplomat, scholar, traveller and the son of John II ...
's death in 1737, the castle passed to the
Radziwiłł princely family and then (in 1801) to Count Łukasz Komarnicki-Pawlikowicz (of the
House of Sas), whose heirs sold it to the
Austrian crown
The crown (german: Krone, hu, korona, it, Corona, pl, korona, sl, krona, sh, kruna, cz, koruna, sk, koruna, ro, coroană) was the official currency of Austria-Hungary from 1892 (when it replaced the florin as part of the adoption of the ...
in 1834.
In the 19th century, the castle was adapted for use as a hospital and barracks. It was turned into a prison in 1872 and continued in use after the
September Campaign
The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week af ...
. There's a chapel commemorating the victims of 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.
...
on the grounds of the castle.
Thousands of people belonging to the Jewish faith were taken from Zolochiv and were killed by the Germans at the outbreak of Operation Barbarossa.
Since 1985, the complex has been supervised by the
Lviv Art Gallery
Borys Voznytsky Lviv National Art Gallery ( uk, Львівська Національна Галерея Мистецтв імені Бориса Возницького) is the largest art museum in Ukraine, with over 62,000 artworks in its colle ...
and under restoration. Recently it began to open its grounds for visitors. Exhibits include more than 25 European coats of arms,
dinosaur bone chandeliers, and a replica of a typical
royal crown from the 13th century, that could be similar to that of
Daniel of Galicia.
See also
*
List of Baroque residences
This is a list of Baroque palaces and residences built in the late 17th and 18th centuries. Baroque architecture is a building style of the Baroque era, begun in late 16th-century Italy and spread in Europe. The style took the Roman vocabulary of ...
References
* Памятники градостроительства и архитектуры Украинской ССР. Киев: Будивельник, 1983—1986. Том 3, с. 132.
{{Castles in Ukraine
Castles in Ukraine
Palaces in Ukraine
Buildings and structures in Lviv Oblast
Museums in Lviv Oblast