Biržai Castle

Biržai was built from 1586 by Kristupas Radvila as a bastion fortress of the Italian type, with earth ramparts and angled bastions designed for artillery rather than the towered walls of an older tradition, and to complete the defences a dam was thrown across two rivers to create Lake Širvėna, one of the oldest artificial lakes in Europe. The fortress was destroyed in the early eighteenth century and the palace within it was reconstructed in the twentieth, now housing the regional museum with sections on the Radvilas, local history and the area's gypsum karst. The ramparts can be walked. A long footbridge crosses the lake, and the town below is known for beer, with several breweries in the district.

History

In 1575 a dam was built where the Agluona and Apaščia rivers meet, creating Lake Širvėna of about 40 square kilometres, and in 1586 Krzysztof Radziwiłł began the earth bastion castle, then the largest and strongest Italian-style fortress in Lithuania; the main works were finished in 1589 (Wikipedia, Biržai Castle).

What you'll find

• Bastion ramparts - the angled earthworks of the artillery fortress.
• The reconstructed palace - the museum building inside the walls.
• Lake Širvėna - the sixteenth-century artificial lake and its footbridge.
• Karst country - the sinkhole landscape the museum explains.

When to go

May to September for the ramparts and lake; the museum is open year round and closes on Mondays. The town's beer festival and the karst lakes nearby make a fuller day.

What to expect

The palace is a twentieth-century reconstruction, not original fabric. The museum is regional in scope with limited English. The ramparts are grassed earthworks rather than masonry. The town is small and quiet.

Nearby

Kirkilai karst lakes lie west; Panevėžys is south.

Key facts