Pidhirtsi Castle

Pidhirtsi was built between 1635 and 1640 for the crown hetman Stanislaw Koniecpolski as a palace inside bastion defences, a combination that was new in this region: a two-storey residence with loggias and terraced gardens, ringed by earthwork bastions and a dry moat. It was among the richest interiors in the Commonwealth. Fire in 1956 and decades of neglect gutted it, and restoration has been slow, so the exterior and terraces carry the visit.

Background

Guillaume Le Vasseur de Beauplan built the castle on the north side of the Woroniaki hills, at 399 meters above sea level, looking over the Styr River valley. Its plan is an open square, each side nearly 100 meters long. The rooms included the Crimson, Chinese, Mirror, Yellow and Green Rooms and a chapel, with around 200 portraits on the walls and floors of marble tiles, and the Green Room held 106 paintings by Szymon Czechowicz. In the 17th century vineyards and Italian-style parterre gardens surrounded it, and Jakub Sobieski and Andrzej Morsztyn praised its wine in verse. Stanislaw Rzewuski bought it in 1725 and opened a theater there. It now belongs to the Lviv National Art Gallery.

Source: Wikipedia, "Pidhirtsi Castle"

What you'll find

• The palace front - a 1640s residence with loggias above bastion earthworks.
• The bastions - angled earth fortification enclosing the palace.
• The terraced gardens - formal terraces running down from the south front.
• The church - a domed Baroque church on the avenue below the palace.

When to go

April to October is the comfortable season. Interiors are mostly closed and the visit is exterior and grounds. Winter access along the ridge can be difficult.

What to expect

The interiors are gutted and largely inaccessible; visitors expecting furnished rooms will be disappointed. Restoration has stalled repeatedly for lack of funds. The site can look bleak in poor weather.

Nearby

Olesko is west, and Zolochiv is south.

Key facts