Nesvizh Castle

Niasviž Castle or Nesvizh Castle (Belarusian: Нясьвіскі замак, Niasvižski zamak, Polish: zamek w Nieświeżu, Lithuanian: Nesvyžius) is a residential castle of the Radziwiłł family in Niasviž, Belarus. It is 183 metres (600 ft) above sea level.

1919 - 1945 the complex was in Poland and was considered one of the most beautiful castles in the Kresy region.

History

The estate was owned by the Radziwiłł magnate family from 1533, when it was awarded to Mikołaj Radziwiłł and his brother Jan Radziwiłł after the extinction of the Kiszka family. Since the Radziwiłłs were one of the most important and wealthy clans of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, it was there that the Lithuanian Archive was moved in 1551. In 1586 the estate was turned into an ordynacja.

After the Union of Lublin the castle became one of the most important residences in the central part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

In 1582 Mikołaj Krzysztof "Sierotka" Radziwiłł, the Marshal of Lithuania, Voivode of Trakai–Vilnius and castellan of Šiauliai, started the construction of an imposing square three-storey "château". Although the works were based on a pre-existing structure of a medieval castle, the former fortifications were entirely turned into a renaissance-baroque house. Construction was completed by 1604, and they added several galleries half a century later. The château's corners were fortified with four octagonal towers.

In 1706, during the Great Northern War, Charles XII's army sacked the castle and destroyed its fortifications. Several decades later, the Radziwiłłs invited some German and Italian architects to substantially renovate and enlarge the castle. Antoni Zaleski decorated its yellow facades with baroque stucco work. The 16th-century castle gates were also reconstructed, and the two-storey gatehouse tower was crowned with a helm. It...