The Lviv High Castle ( uk, Високий замок, translit=Vysokyi zamok; pl, Wysoki Zamek) is a historic castle located on the top of the Castle Hill of the city of

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 ...

, Ukraine. It is currently the highest point in the city, above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...

. The castle currently stands in ruins. The High Castle is proximate to the

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

of Lviv ( see picture), formerly being surrounded by a fortification wall. The Castle Hill took its name from the High Castle (as opposed to the , once located on the east bank of the

Poltva The Poltva (; pl, Pełtew) is a river in the western Ukrainian Oblast of Lviv and a tributary of the Bug. The Poltva valley cuts between the Podilian Plateau and Roztichia. The capital of the Lviv Oblast, Lviv, is located on the river, with t ...

), which used to be located on the hill from the 13th century to the late 19th century. The castle was a main defensive fort of the city during its existence.

History

Before the castle was built, there were certainly defensive structures in Lviv, but their shape and exact location are unknown. As it follows from Rus' Chronicles, the first wooden structures were built by

Leo I of Halych Leo I of Galicia ( ua, Лев Дани́лович, translit=Lev Danylovych) (c. 1228 – c. 1301) was a king of Ruthenia, prince (Kniaz) of Belz (1245–1264), Peremyshl, Halych (1264–1269), and grand prince of Kiev (Kyiv, 1271–1301). ...

. In 1261 by a request of Mongol military leader

Boroldai Boroldai (or Burulday, Borolday), also known as Burundai, (Cyrillic: ''Боролдай'') (died 1262) was a notable Mongol general of the mid 13th century. He participated in the Mongol invasion of Russia and Europe in 1236-1242. The clan of Bor ...

they were destroyed. Before 1283 they were rebuilt. Here was the treasury of the kingdom of Rus', including crowns, thrones and precious crosses with parts of the True Cross.Rocznik Traski // Monumenta Poloniae Historica. – Lwów, 1872. – T. 2. – P. 860–861 According to chronicler

Jan Długosz Jan Długosz (; 1 December 1415 – 19 May 1480), also known in Latin as Johannes Longinus, was a Polish priest, chronicler, diplomat, soldier, and secretary to Bishop Zbigniew Oleśnicki of Kraków. He is considered Poland's first histo ...

in 1340, when Lviv was captured by Casimir III of Poland, the king ordered city's fortifications to be dismantled. In 1351 Lithuanian prince

Liubartas Demetrius of Liubar or Liubartas (also ''Lubart'', ''Lubko'', ''Lubardus'', baptized ''Dmitry''; died ) was Prince of Lutsk and Liubar (Volhynia) (1323–1383), Prince of Zhytomyr (1363–1374), Grand Prince of Volhynia (1340–1383), Grand Princ ...

captured and burned down Lviv. Two years later in 1353 Liubartas again invaded the city this time destroying it completely. Casimir III built a new town on the

Poltva River The Poltva (; pl, Pełtew) is a river in the western Ukrainian Oblast of Lviv and a tributary of the Bug. The Poltva valley cuts between the Podilian Plateau and Roztichia. The capital of the Lviv Oblast, Lviv, is located on the river, with t ...

and granted it a Magdeburg rights in 1356. A new brick castle appeared on the hill in 1362 by the king Casmimir III. It became the residence of Polish nobles. In 1537, the castle witnessed a rebellion known as the

Chicken War Chicken War or Hen War ( pl, Wojna kokosza) is the colloquial name for a 1537 anti-royalist and anti- absolutist ''rokosz'' (rebellion) by the Polish nobility. The derisive name was coined by the ''magnates'', who for the most part supported the ...

against Polish king Sigismund I the Old and his wife Bona Sforza. The castle was rebuilt and repaired many times. In the times of Khmelnytsky Uprising it was taken by Cossack forces of Colonel

Maksym Kryvonis Maksym Kryvonis ( uk, Максим Кривоніс) ( "Crooked-nose", or Perebyinis) (d. 1648) was one of the Cossack leaders of Khmelnytsky Uprising. Origins The question about his origins remains unresolved. A Polish pamphlet published in 16 ...

in October 1648. In 1704, when Lviv was occupied by Swedes the castle was heavily damaged. In 1777, Austrians initiated disassembling of fortifications around the castle. In the 19th century, the then destroyed castle was taken apart and new facilities were built in its place. The fortification was strengthened, trees were planted on the hill's slope, and a park was constructed. On the place where the castle once stood, a

Union of Lublin Mound Union of Lublin Mound ( uk, Копець Люблінської унії; pl, Kopiec Unii Lubelskiej) is an artificial hill, 29 m high, in Lviv, modern day Ukraine created in 1869-1890 by Polish inhabitants to commemorate the 300th anniversary ...

was constructed in 1869, dedicated to the 300-years of the

Union of Lublin The Union of Lublin ( pl, Unia lubelska; lt, Liublino unija) was signed on 1 July 1569 in Lublin, Poland, and created a single state, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest countries in Europe at the time. It replaced the per ...

. Currently, an observation platform is located atop the kurgan. In 1957, a 141-meter tall

television tower Radio masts and towers are typically tall structures designed to support antennas for telecommunications and broadcasting, including television. There are two main types: guyed and self-supporting structures. They are among the tallest human-made ...

was constructed on a ridge of the hill ( see picture). In 2004-2005, there were talks of reconstructing a stone castle on the hill. The project gained some support and opposition. However, at this time, plans for the construction of the castle are not realistic.

In culture

'' Highcastle: A Remembrance'' ( pl, Wysoki Zamek), a 1966

coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can ...

autobiographical novel by the Polish, Lviv-born, science fiction writer

Stanisław Lem Stanisław Herman Lem (; 12 September 1921 – 27 March 2006) was a Polish writer of science fiction and essays on various subjects, including philosophy, futurology, and literary criticism. Many of his science fiction stories are of satirical ...

, refers to the castle.Irene Sywenky, "Spaces of Unhomeliness: Rereading Post-Imperial Urban Heterotopias in East Central Europe", In: ,

History

In culture

References

Further reading