The mir castle

Approaching Mir (in Grodno region) today, one cannot but notice the outlines of a castle at a distance. It's the Mir Castle which great towers, tall walls and a three-storied palace look majestic even now.

Though it is difficult to teil the exact time of its foundation, due to many factual proves we can say that the castle was founded by Jury Iljinich, a representative of a notable feudal family, in no way earlier than in 1510. The castle was mentioned in the so-called 'Litovskaya metrica' in 1531 for the first time.

The castle was built instead of a wooden feudal farmstead and now it looks as a square-planned building with towers at the corners. The fifth tower4iad a drawbridge and a forged grille-'chersa' which could urgently stop a sudden attack. The castle was well adapted for gunshot defense. Its walls had two rows of loopholes, and its towers were intended for heavy cannon shooting from them. The basis of its volumetric composition is the high towers which jut out beyond the wall-line. All of them have the same structure — tetrahedral core with octahedral top, but they are differently decorated and it gives original decorative value and beauty to the castle. Some architectural means, characteristic of the Belarusian Gothic, were used in the Mir Castle: Gothic bricklaying (alternation of long and short sides of bricks), division of walls with plastered niches of various forms, ornamental brick belts.

Since 1568 the Mir Castle was owned by the Radzivills, who finished its building in the Renaissance style. A three-storied palace was built along the eastern and northern walls. Its plastered facades were decorated with limestone portals, plates, balconies and porches: During excavations they collected a lot of glazed tiles with vegetable and geometrical ornaments, and coats of arms of the castle's owners. Earth walls were made around the castle, with bastions at the corners; a water moat surrounded them. To the north of the walls an Italian garden was laid, to the south — an artificial lake.

This lake has a notorious glory. The thing is that the last owner ordered to cut down the apple garden which was where now the lake is. The garden was blos­soming at that time. Since then the cut-down trees revenge people — each year a man sinks in the lake.

The castle saw very hard times. A long-time Swedish siege took place in 1655, and in 1705 the Swedish troops stormed the palace and burnt all the buildings and facilities that had been so carefully restored some twenty years earlier. Then there followed Souvorov's troops storm. The most dangerous ordeal was the Patriotic War of 1812 with its severe battles between the Russian and French troops in July and November. That year the north-eastern tower was blown up just right in the place where the gunpowder was stored. The palace was burnt again and the fortifications destroyed.

After the Patriotic War of 1812 no significant events took place at the Mir Castle and in its surroundings. However, the harder the castle was destroyed overgrowing with weeds, the more attractive it grew for those who admired ancient beauty. Beginning from 1891 the Svyatopolk-Mirskies took possession of the castle, though the similarity in names is a mere coincidence. New owners began to form a new palace-park ensemble. The landscape part of the park was situated between the castle and the palace and was planned so that various kinds of trees interchanged with open glades in a nice way. The main structural and picturesque component of the landscape was a large water reservoir with an island made in 1896-1898. It came inplace of a former chain of five ponds. This pivot element defined the main promenade route which led from the main gate along the pond to the castle. The ensemble was completed with the burial chapel of the Svyatopolk-Mirskies built in 1904. An original structure featured a bell-tower and a colourful mosaic panel fixed on the main facade. After the fire of 19 И the castle was not restored and the last prince from the family lived in it till 1939.

During World War II there was a ghetto, and after many refugees made it their home. The last of the ruin-dwellers left the Mir Castle in the early 1960s. On June 25, 1983, the first reconstruction work started, and ten years later the first displays in the restored south-west tower were opened for me public. At present the recon­struction work is being continued.

Despite numerous destructions (the heaviest ones were during 1812 war) the Mir Castle survived till now; and at present it is being successfully restored. This monument is under the auspices of UNESCO.