Lida Castle is one of the most famous architectural monuments of Belarus. It was created in 1323 by order of Prince Gediminas. Its main purpose is to protect the land from the crusaders of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, who liked the generous lands of this part of Europe.
Castle construction
The Lida castle, the photo of which is presented in this article, was built in a swampy area, at the place where the Kamenka and Lidea rivers meet. On its northern side was a moat connecting the rivers and separating the structure from the city. To erect this building, builders were able to create a sandy artificial island. Further (in the 16-17th centuries) during the castle fortifications, an artificial lake was created on the north side.
The Lida castle in plan is a quadrangle of irregular shape with 2 corner towers. Its walls were built of brick and rubble stone. By the way, brick in Eastern Europe and Germany was very popular then. It served as the basis for the emergence of "brick Gothic", in it, in fact, the castle is made.
Buildings
In the courtyard of the castle there were household and residential buildings, while since the 16th century the first floor was reserved for city administrative buildings - a prison, archive and court. The courtyard also housed the Orthodox Church, which was moved to the city in 1533.
There are still loopholes on the south wall that were the same height and tubeless, with different widths. There were 3 types in total. Loopholes were necessary for shooting with crossbows and bows.
In the southwestern part of the castle was a tower, close in plan to a square. The wall thickness was about 3 m, and its height was much higher than the 12-meter walls of the building.
In the northeast of the courtyard was the 2nd tower, supposedly built in the late 14th century. Then castle fortifications were created in Belarus and Lithuania, as enemy attacks became more frequent and powerful. This tower also has the shape of a quadrangle.
Castle in history
Since the end of the 14th century, the Lida castle has been undergoing destructive sieges of enemies. Initially, he was captured by the Crusaders, who had partially plundered it, and then the Anglo-German army. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the castle was attacked by Crimean Tatars, Prince Svidrigaila and the troops of Yuri Svyatoslavich. In 1659, the Lida Castle stormed the army from Moscow.
In 1394, one of the British raids on Lida occurred, and an army of the French also took part in it. The British intended to plunder the city, but the inhabitants themselves burned down all the houses and hid in the castle, thus repulsing the attack. Since the city did not have its own fortifications, the castle was a salvation for the entire local population.
The city in 1891 burned down due to a fire that destroyed the castle too. The city authorities began to sell its debris, bricks and stones went to restore the buildings of Lida. But after numerous protests by local residents, vandalism and looting managed to stop.
Restoration
In tsarist times, the restoration of the castle began. Then the Archaeological Imperial Commission allocated 946 rubles for restoration work , although little was done. In the 1920s, Polish specialists took over the restoration work, although they could do little. In the eighties of the last century, specialists of the Ministry of Culture of Belarus restored the north-east tower and walls, where today the museum of local lore is located. It is worth knowing, having gathered on an excursion to Lida Castle, the opening hours of the exhibition halls: they are open to visitors every day, except Mondays, from morning to 7:00 in the evening.
The most recent restoration of the building took place in 2011, but its results did not even disappoint - they outraged those who care! There is an opinion that the work was carried out extremely carelessly, with a single goal - to please officials and withdraw budget funds allocated for restoration.
Brick laying was carried out somehow, artlessly and crookedly. The masonry took an incredible amount of modern mortar, and as a result huge gaps remained in the walls. But the main thing is the bricks, which were also “today”, and not original; even hollow ceramites appeared in some places, which they could not do in the dark Middle Ages. The bricks are also of different shades, while during the laying their color difference was not taken into account.
Lida castle: reviews of tourists
Many tourists are at a loss to be here. They leave feedback that they were unpleasantly surprised to see an exposition on the 1st floor, which reminds many, rather, of a local history corner in the museum of the school. Primitively manufactured household items, castle attributes. Some vacationers grin, talking about the table, which is laid in the main hall of the castle - it is lit with just a few candles, which, in theory, should have been much larger; apparently, money was spared on them here. As a result, it is incredibly dark. Tourists also leave angry reviews that concrete was used in some places of the building, while the stairs are completely made of reinforced concrete! Surely such a structure will stand for hundreds of years. But if people knew something about reinforced concrete in the 14th century, most likely the history of Eastern Europe and Russia would be different, and the castle would not have suffered such a fate as destruction from time to time.