Castles And Fortresses Of Belarus

 Situated in the central part of the European continent, the land of Belarus has always been on the military routes. All over this country there are numerous castles and fortresses which are silent witnesses of the wars and battles of old days as during this millennium the history of these structures has been melted with the history and the destiny of the people. In old days travellers used to call Belarus the country of castles as one could see those every 15 or 30 km.

Starting from the 13^th century numerous defence structures appeared on the territory of Belarus. Not far away from the Western border of Belarus, in the Region of Brest, one can still see the White Tower of Kamenets.

In the early 13^th century, in the period of continuous struggle with Crusaders from the West and a threat of Tartar-Mongol invasion from the East, there was formed the Great Principality of Lithuania which was one of the most powerful states in Europe and covered the territory of Belarus, Lithuania, and parts of the Ukrainian and Russian lands. Belarus became the nucleus of the Great Principality of Lithuania and its first capital was situated in the Belarusian city of Novogrudok. As the chronicles mention, since late 13^th century till the year 1410, Crusaders had intruded into the territory of Belarus 140 times. In 1410 the Crusaders army (which consisted of the knights from Germany, England, France, Switzerland and other countries) was defeated in the battle of Gruenwald (Poland) by the allied troops of King Jagaylo of Poland and of Prince Witowt of the Great Principality of Lithuania. This epoch in European history is full of myths and legends and is of a great tourist interest.

A number of itineraries developed recently include visits to the 14^th century castle in Lida, the castle in Novogrudok, the birth-place of Adam Mitskevich, a great poet who was writing about this epoch, the 14^th century castle of Krevo, Vitovt 14^th century castle in Grodno and many other places of interest.

The tradition to build castles and fortresses in Belarus continued in the following centuries.

The 14^th century Castle in Mir and the palace and park complex in Nesvizh (16^th — 18^th cent.) are of a special interest.

Numerous wars left their traces on the walls of fortresses in Belarus. Thus, the fortress of Bobruysk is connected with the events of Napoleon war of 1912, and the fortress of Brest has become a symbol of heroic deeds of Soviet soldiers who defended in 1941.

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