Rokantiškės Castle () ruins are in Naujoji Vilnia elderate of

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

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 ...

The castle was located east of Vilnius on a high hill near the Vilnia River. The first castle was built in the 12th century.Archeologams Rokantiškių pilies kalnas pažėrė radinių
/ref> In the 16th century, it was rebuilt in the

Renaissance style Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of Ancient Greece, ancient Greek and ...

and has been the seat of the Olshanski family. Alexander Olshanski, Yuri Olshanski and the last family member Pawel Olshanski have lived there. After his death the castle was inherited by

Bona Sforza Bona Sforza (2 February 1494 – 19 November 1557) was Queen consort, Queen of Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569), Poland and List of Lithuanian consorts, Grand Duchess of Lithuania as the second wife of Sigismund the Old, and Duchess of Bari and ...

and later passed to the Pac family. The Deputy Chancellor of Lithuania Stefan Pac was visited here by the King of Poland and Grand duke of Lithuania

Władysław IV Vasa Władysław IV Vasa or Ladislaus IV (9 June 1595 – 20 May 1648) was King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania and claimant of the thrones of Monarchy of Sweden, Sweden and List of Russian monarchs, Russia. Born into the House of Vasa as a prince ...

on July 15, 1636. The castle was burnt down by

Cossacks The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic languages, East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borde ...

on August 7, 1655, during the Russo-Polish War and fell in ruins. Today there are the only visible medieval castle ruins in Vilnius.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rokantiskes Castle Former castles in Lithuania Buildings and structures in Vilnius Ruins in Lithuania Naujoji Vilnia Tourist attractions in Vilnius

See also

References