Lubart's Castle

Lubart's Castle was begun in the fourteenth century by the Lithuanian prince Lubart on the site of an earlier wooden fort, and it is one of the best surviving brick castles of its period in Ukraine: a triangle of curtain wall with three towers, standing on a rise between arms of the Styr. In 1429 it hosted a congress of European rulers. The walls can be walked, the towers climbed, and museums of bells and of books fill some of the interiors.

Background

The castle is also known as Lutsk Castle or the Upper Castle, and its tower appears on the 200 hryvnia banknote. Its founder Liubartas, or Lubart, was a son of Gediminas and the last ruler of a united Galicia-Volhynia. Most of the present structure, rising above the Styr River, dates from the 1340s and reuses parts of older walls; the earlier town of Luchesk already had a wooden wall in 1075. The three main towers, now named Lubart, Švitrigaila and Bishop, were built up during the 16th and 17th centuries. Another castle in the city, the Lower Castle, was built by the Czartoryski family from the 14th century and now survives only as a ruin.

Source: Wikipedia, "Lubart's Castle"

What you'll find

• The three towers - the entrance, Styr and Vladycha towers on the triangle's corners.
• The wall walk - the parapet running between the towers.
• The bell museum - a collection of bells in one of the towers.
• The old town - the surrounding quarter of churches and eighteenth-century houses.

When to go

April to October is the comfortable season. The castle is open year round with shorter winter hours. Summer weekends bring events in the courtyard.

What to expect

The interiors are museum spaces rather than historic rooms. The tower stairs are steep and narrow. Labelling is in Ukrainian.

Nearby

Lake Svitiaz is northwest, and Ostroh is southeast.

Key facts