MIR CASTLE COMPLEX

THE FIRST MENTIONFOR THE FIRST TIME МIR WAS MENTIONED IN

1434 WHEN IT BECOMES A PRIVATE ESTATE OF SENKO GEDYGOLDOVICH.

LOCATION IT IS LOCATED IN THE TOWN OF MIR, IN

THE KARELICHY DISTRICT OF THE GRODNA REGION

APPEARANCETHIS IS A SQUARE-PLANNED BUILDING WITH

TOWERS AT THE CORNERS. THE CASTLE WAS WELL ADAPTED FOR GUNSHOT DEFENSE. ITS WALLS HAD

TWO ROWS OF LOOP-HOLES, AND ITS TOWERS WERE INTENDED FOR HEAVY CANNON SHOOTING FROM

THEM.

CONSTRUCTIONTHE CONSTRUCTION OF THIS CASTLE BEGAN AT THE END OF

THE 15TH CENTURY, IN GOTHIC STYLE. IT WAS SUBSEQUENTLY EXTENDED AND RECONSTRUCTED, FIRST IN THE RENAISSANCE AND THEN IN THE BAROQUE STYLE. AFTER BEING ABANDONED

FOR NEARLY A CENTURY AND SUFFERING SEVERE DAMAGE DURING THE NAPOLEONIC PERIOD, THE CASTLE WAS RESTORED AT THE END OF THE 19TH CENTURY, WITH THE ADDITION OF A NUMBER OF OTHER ELEMENTS AND THE LANDSCAPING OF THE

SURROUNDING AREA AS A PARK.

THE FIRST STAGE OF CONSTRUCTION

AT THE FIRST STAGE OF CONSTRUCTION FIVE TOWERS WERE ERECTED. THEY WERE CONNECTED WITH WALLS WHOSE THICKNESS AT THE FOUNDATION WAS UP TO

THREE METERS. EACH TOWER WAS ABOUT 25 METERS IN HEIGHT AND HAD FIVE FIGHTING STOREYS WITH LOOPHOLES AND A COMPLEX SYSTEM OF INNER

PASSAGES.

THE SECOND STAGE OF CONSTRUCTION HAVING ACQUIRED THE OWNERSHIP RIGHTS FOR

MIR COUNTY IN 1569, PRINCE MIKOLAJ KRZYSZTOF RADZIWILL NICKNAMED THE ORPHAN DECIDED TO

MAKE THE CASTLE ONE OF HIS RESIDENCES. AT HIS BEHEST THREE-STOREY LIVING PALACES WERE

ERECTED ALONG THE NORTHERN AND EASTERN WALLS OF THE CASTLE, THE THREE ADJACENT

TOWERS WERE REBUILT AND A BARBICAN AT THE ENTRANCE TOWER APPEARED. EARTH MOUNDS WITH BASTIONS AT THE ANGLES WERE RAISED AROUND THE CASTLE. A FOSSE FILLED WITH

WATER WAS DUG BEHIND THE EARTH MOUNDS.

THE THIRD STAGE OF CONSTRUCTION

THE CASTLE REGAINED ITS FORMER GRANDEUR THANKS TO A NEW OWNER – PRINCE MIKHAIL KAZIMIERZ RADZIWILL

NICKNAMED THE RYBONKA. THE CHAMBERS OF THE FOURTH PRINCELY FLOOR WERE REPLANNED. THE ROOMS OF A

SIMILAR LAYOUT, PREDOMINANTLY OF A SQUARE TYPE, WERE REPLACED BY A SUITE OF HALLS OF DIFFERENT SIZES. FOR

THIS PURPOSE THE INTERNAL PARTITIONS WERE REARRANGED, THE STAIRS LINE WAS CHANGED. THE

STATEROOM AS WELL AS THE PORTRAIT AND DANCE HALLS WERE DECORATED WITH OAK PARQUET FLOORS, GILDED

CEILINGS, SUPERB FURNITURE, TAPESTRY, PAINTINGS, CHINAWARE AND DELFTWARE.

NEW AGE

IN 1891 MIR CASTLE WERE PURCHASED BY PRINCE NIKOLAY SVYATOPOLK-MIRSKY. AN ALCOHOL PLANT AND A TWO-STOREY PALACE WERE BUILT

OPPOSITE THE CASTLE. A WATER RESERVOIR WITH ISLANDS WAS MADE IN FRONT OF THE NEW PALACE INSTEAD OF FIVE PONDS AND A CUT DOWN

GARDEN.

IN 1922 NIKOLAY’S SON MIKHAIL STARTED TO RESTORE MIR CASTLE. THE WORKS HAD LASTED FOR 16 YEARS. DURING THIS PERIOD A PART OF THE

EASTERN PALACE AND TWO SOUTHERN TOWERS WERE RESTORED.

DURING THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR

DURING THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR FROM MAY TO AUGUST 1942 THE CASTLE SERVED AS A GHETTO WHERE HITLER’S FORCES

IMPRISONED AROUND 800 LOCAL JEWS. IN SUMMER THE PRISONERS ORGANIZED A RESISTANCE GROUP. ON AUGUST 9,

1942 OVER 250 JEWS MANAGED TO ESCAPE. THREE DAYS LATER THOSE WHO STAYED IN GHETTO WERE SHOT BY FASCISTS IN THE

FOREST NOT FAR FROM MIR.

NOWADAYS IN 1972. MIR CASTLE WAS INCLUDED IN THE UNESCO WORLD NATURAL AND

CULTURAL HERITAGE AT THE MEETING OF THE WORLD HERITAGE COMMITTEE. MIR CASTLE HAS BECOME ONE OF THE NATIONAL SYMBOLS OF THE REPUBLIC OF BELARUS . IT IS RECOGNIZED AND KNOWN OUTSIDE OUR COUNTRY. THE

OBJECT IS THE MOST TYPICAL AND EXPRESSIVE AMONG THE MEDIEVAL CASTLES OF BELARUS.