In Belarus, in the town of Golshany, an interesting architectural object is located. Golshansky castle, or rather, its ruins, are of great interest to historians and architects. A small Belarusian settlement has long attracted tourists from all over the world with a palace and castle ensemble, which once belonged to the Sapeg family.
Despite the fact that today only the ruins of a once magnificent building have been preserved, Golshany Castle remains one of the most mysterious places in the country. Ghosts, accidents, inexplicable anomalous phenomena - all this envelops, like an invisible cloud, a mysterious castle. Its ancient walls are saturated with mysticism and secrets ...
Golshany castle - history
Today, thousands of travelers come to Belarus to see the mysterious palace. Probably many readers are interested in where the Golshany Castle is located? It is located in a small village, at the intersection of roads from Oshmyan to Novogrudok and Smorgon. This settlement is very different from other Belarusian villages - its world of legends and traditions reigns here. Here V. Korotkevich, who wrote his famous novel Black Castle Olshansky, drew inspiration, here (according to local residents) the White Lady and the mysterious Black Monk stroll, the walls of the once magnificent Golshansky Palace are aging and decaying.
The history of this settlement began in 1280. This was mentioned in the “Chronicle of Bykhovets”. It says that the brother of Prince Narimund (Golsh), crossed the river Vilya, discovered a very beautiful mountain, and founded the city there, which he called Golshany.
The Golshansky clan was noble and rich. The heirs of the famous family held high posts in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the beautiful representatives of the clan became the wives of kings. For example, Ulyana Golshanskaya became the wife of Prince Vitovt Keystutovich, and Sophia Golshanskaya made King Jagiello happy. The famous royal Jagiellon dynasty began with it.
For Golshan, the beginning of the 17th century turned out to be significant - at this time a magnificent palace and the pride of the principality appeared on this earth. His construction was conceived by Pavel Sapieha - cousin of Leo Sapieha. Unfortunately, he was destined to become the first and only owner of a magnificent castle of this kind. After himself, he did not leave heirs.
In 1880, a certain Gorbanev owned the castle. By his order, part of the structure was dismantled, and a tavern was built of brick. Until 1939, people lived in this magnificent castle. Unfortunately, in Soviet times, the palace completely lost its appearance - it continued to be dismantled in order to build a House of Culture and a pigsty.
Palace Description
Judging by the preserved documents, the Golshany castle was amazed by its wealth and luxury. Not much is known about his interior decoration today. Researchers claim that to the right of the entrance was a large square hall, with four massive columns. They were the support of the cross vaults. The walls of the palace were decorated with portraits, tapestries, and expensive collection weapons.
The windows overlooking the castle courtyard were decorated with stained-glass windows. The floor was tiled. The castle was admired by contemporaries; it was often called the “Stone Flower". Receptions and balls were arranged here by Pavel Sapega. It is worth noting that he lived quite widely, not counting the means. Therefore, after his death, Golshany was divided among his creditors.
The castle was built in the tradition of Dutch architecture. Outwardly, it very much resembled another famous palace of Belarus - Mirsky. In plan it is a rectangle made up by residential buildings of buildings that created a closed territory of the courtyard. Hexagonal towers towered in the corners of the palace, and a fortification tower with an entrance tunnel to the courtyard was built in the center of one wall.
Golshany castle, the photo of which you see in our article, was built as a defensive structure, but over time its powerful walls were replaced by the facade of a residential building. The central entrance tower was removed, and the corner towers were significantly reduced in width, but increased in height. The defense of the palace was replaced by a system of earthen ditches and ramparts. Their remains have survived to this day.
The First and Second World Wars practically destroyed the unique work of the great architects of that time, only the ruins remained from the famous palace in Golshany.
Architectural style
Today, researchers argue about the style of the Golshany castle - because now it is quite difficult to determine by the picturesque ruins. Therefore, often their opinions do not coincide. Some believe that the palace is a vivid example of the Baroque architectural style. Others are sure that the features of the Dutch Renaissance are clearly visible here. However, they all agree that the builders used the Dutch system, creating earthen ramparts and wide ditches.
Entry portal
Golshansky castle (Belarus) in the center of one of the buildings had a front door. The facade on this side was completely simple. An arched portal framed the archivolt.
On the opposite side, symmetrical to the entrance, was a small chapel. She was built into a residential building.
We have already mentioned that Golshany Castle is surrounded by secrets and myths. The locals pass on the legends from generation to generation. We will tell you some of them in this article.
Legend of the black monk
Once upon a time, a poor young man fell in love with the beautiful princess Ganna Golshanskaya. A girl from a noble family reciprocated. Very soon, the princess's father found out about their secret meetings. To honor the tribal honor, he decided to severely punish the unfortunate young man. Following medieval traditions, he ordered to ward his beloved daughter in one of the walls of the castle. Since then, the young man’s restless soul has wandered through the cellars and galleries of the castle. She is called the shadow of the Black Monk, which terrifies rare passers-by.
The Legend of the White Lady
This story is more popular in Golshany. It allegedly occurred during the construction of the Franciscan monastery, which was located near the castle.
The builders who built the monastery were promised a large reward if they finish work on time. But something did not work out for the masters - one of the walls constantly cracked and several times collapsed. Then the workers came to the conclusion that for the successful completion of the work, a sacrifice should be made. They decided that the woman who first appeared in this place would become that very unhappy one. She was the wife of a young worker, she was walled up in a crumbling wall.
Many believe that this legend is based on genuine events. During excavations in the monastery in 2000, a skeleton of a girl with traces of violent death was discovered under the wall. Workers who discovered the remains and buried them without burial on their own died very soon, but the strangest thing was that they could not find the grave later.
An ancient legend tells about this girl, or not, it is not known, but the soul, called the White Panna, still roams the monastery. The townspeople claim that recently they began to meet her more and more often. Locals say that she really does not like men (and there is a reason), after meeting with the White Lady, people for some time lose their orientation in space.
The legend of the mill
The mill, which is mentioned in the legend, is located at the beginning of the town. Now only walls are left of it. But at night she comes to life and "starts to work." People say that you can clearly hear the millstone creaking, neighing horses, and the miller’s talk is heard.
Castle anomalies
If you happen to visit the Golshansky castle, then the inhabitants will definitely tell you another story. Almost twenty years ago, and maybe more, the teacher at the local school promised his students that he would let them go on vacation earlier if they brought him eighty bricks. Schoolchildren followed them to the castle, where one of the boys died - he collapsed over a collapsed wall. Residents of Golshan believe that this did not happen by chance. To the same anomalies they include the sound of a working old mill, which a long time ago was empty on the outskirts of the village.
Scientists came to Golshany several times to check how true these stories are. All are unanimous that abnormal phenomena are present here.
Golshany castle today
Once the magnificent Golshansky castle, many call it a real open-air museum - here you can see the remains of towers and walls, arched ceilings. Every year thousands of tourists come here to see the ruins of an ancient building, because this place has gained a reputation as one of the most mysterious in Belarus.
Most recently, a small cleaning of the territory from bricks that accumulated near the walls over many years was carried out in the castle. The outlines of the palaces and walls appeared more clearly, since they were half littered with fragments of bricks.
It is a pity that this work was carried out using bulldozers - a lot of the historical and cultural layer was bumped into a huge garbage pile. The authorities plan to begin the reconstruction of the palace at the end of 2015.
Golshany castle - how to get there
If you intend to visit the Golshansky castle in the near future, you can choose two ways - use public transport or go on a trip by personal car.
In the first case, you need to get on a bus in Minsk (Vostochny bus station), following the route Minsk - Traby, which will take you to Golshan.
By car you should go to the Moscow Ring Road - Minsk Ring Road. Take the exit onto the M6 (about 65.4 km). Then turn right and go straight 3.4 km. After this, in the roundabout, take the 2nd exit. Continue onto H8245 (12 km).