Novogrudok Castle

Novogrudok stands on hills in western Belarus and was the first capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, where Mindaugas was crowned in 1253. Its castle grew from the thirteenth century into a stronghold of several towers on the hill above the town, and it was destroyed in the seventeenth-century wars and left to decay; two tower fragments stand, consolidated, with the earthworks and the outline of the walls around them and a wide view over the surrounding country. The town below has the church of the Transfiguration where Adam Mickiewicz was baptised, his family house now a museum, and the Mound of Immortality raised in his honour on a neighbouring hill.

Highlights

• The tower ruins - the two consolidated fragments on the castle hill.
• The hill view - the country around from the ramparts.
• The Mickiewicz house - the poet's family home, now a museum.
• The Transfiguration church - where Mickiewicz was baptised.

When to go

May to September for the hill and the views; the castle site is open at any time. Museums keep daytime hours and close on Mondays. Autumn colours the surrounding hills.

Practical notes

Only fragments of two towers survive. The museums are small and labelled mainly in Belarusian and Russian. The town is modest with limited facilities. The hill is exposed and windy.

Nearby

Lake Svityaz lies east; Lyubcha is north on the Neman.