Lyubchansky castle

Lyubchansky Castle or, as it is also called Castle of Kishak and Radziwill, was built on the left bank of the Neman in the second half of the XVI century in the village Liubcha. The castle was erected on the edge of the eras - Gothic and Renaissance, and incorporated the features of both architectural styles.

In 1581 Jan Kishka, influential magnate and nobleman of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, built a castle in Liubcha on an artificial hill with the area about 0.7 hectares. All its buildings, except for one stone tower at the entrance, were made of wood. Three sides of the castle were encircled with a moat with the depth up to 10 m, the forth side was protected by the waters of the Neman.

At the end of the XVI century Nicholai Radziwill became a new owner of the castle. The duke decided to rebuild it: there appeared three stone towers and stone inside buildings. This allowed to turn the castle into a defensive fortress.

In the middle of the XVII century the castle belonged to a talented military leader, Grand Hetman of Lithuania Janusz Radziwill, who became famous during the war with the Cossacks ruled by Bohdan Khmelnytsky in 1648-1651. But in 1655 the forces of Hetman Ivan Zolotarenko occupied and burned down Lyubchansky castle, destroying two towers. After these events the castle lost its importance as a military fortification, and as one of the Radziwills” residences.

Then the castle changed its owners several times. In the XIX century its last inside outbuildings were demolished. Instead them, next to two remained towers was built a two-storey palace in the style of English Gothic.

Today you can see only two towers built of brick and rubble. They are the remains of the castle. In 1964 the museum was opened in the school that that is located in the castle museum.

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