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Golshansky Castle (Belarus): history and legends

In Belarus, in the town of Halšany, there is an interesting architectural object. Castle Golshansky, 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 the palace and castle ensemble, which once belonged to the genus Sapere.

Despite the fact that today only the ruins of the once magnificent structure have been preserved, remains one of the most mysterious places in the country - the Golshansky Castle. Ghosts, accidents, inexplicable anomalous phenomena - all this wraps up, like an invisible cloud, a mysterious castle. Its ancient walls are imbued with mysticism and mystery ...

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 - here reigns its own world of legends and legends. Here he drew inspiration from V. Korotkevich, who wrote his famous novel "The Black Castle of Olshansky", here (according to local residents) the White Pan and the mysterious Black Monk are walking, the walls of the once magnificent Golshansky Palace grow old and old.

The history of this settlement began in 1280. This is preserved in the "Chronicle Byhovets". It says that Prince Narimund's brother (Golsha), crossed the river Viliya, discovered a very beautiful mountain, and founded a city there, which he named Halšany.

The Golshansky family was noble and rich. The heirs of the famous family held high positions in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the fine representatives of the clan became the wives of kings. For example, Uliana Golshanskaya became the wife of Prince Vytautas Keystutovich, and Sofia Golshanskaya made King Jagiello happy. From it the famous royal dynasty of Jagiellons began.

For Golshans the beginning of the 17th century turned out to be a landmark - at this time a magnificent palace, pride of princedom appeared on this land. His construction was planned by Pavel Sapega, cousin of Lev Sapieha. Unfortunately, he was destined to become the first and only owner of a magnificent castle of this kind. After himself, he left no heirs.

In 1880, the castle was owned by a certain Gorbanev. By his order, part of the structure was dismantled, and a tavern was built out of brick. Until 1939 people lived in this magnificent castle. Unfortunately, in the Soviet times the palace completely lost its appearance - it was continued to be disassembled in order to build a House of Culture and a pig house.

Description of the palace

Judging by the surviving documents, wealth and luxury were struck by the Golshansky Castle. About its interior decoration today is not known so much. The 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, expensive collection weapons.

The windows facing the courtyard were decorated with stained glass windows. The floor was paved with mosaic. The castle admired contemporaries, it was often called the "Stone Flower". Paul Sapieha arranged receptions and balls here. It is worth noting that he lived quite widely, not counting the means. Therefore, after his death, Halšany was divided among himself by his creditors.

The castle was built in the tradition of Dutch architecture. Outwardly, it was very similar to another famous palace of Belarus - Mirsky. In terms of this is a rectangle composed of residential buildings of buildings that created a closed courtyard area. At the corners of the palace towering towers towered hexagonal towers, and in the center of one wall was built a fortification tower with an entrance tunnel to the courtyard.

The 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 the 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 the time, only the ruins remained from the famous palace in Halšaná.

Architectural style

Today, researchers are arguing about the style of the Golshansky castle - in fact it is now quite difficult to determine from 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 Netherlands renaissance are clearly visible here. Nevertheless, they all agree that the builders used the Dutch system, creating earthen ramparts and broad moats.

Inbound portal

Golshansky Castle (Belarus) in the center of one of the buildings had a front entrance. The facade on this side was quite simple. The arched portal was framed by an archivolt.

On the opposite side, symmetrically to the entrance, was a small chapel. It was built into a residential building.

We have already mentioned that Golshany Castle is surrounded by secrets and myths. Legends about him, the locals pass from generation to generation. Some of them will be told to you and we are in this article.

The Legend of the Black Monk

Once upon a time, a poor young man fell in love with the beautiful princess Ganna Golshansky. A girl from a noble family answered him in kind. Very soon the princess's father learned of their secret meetings. To honor the family honor, he decided to severely punish the unfortunate youth. Following medieval traditions, he ordered to lock up the beloved daughter in one of the castle walls. Since that time the undying soul of a young man has been wandering around the cellars and galleries of the castle. It is called the shadow of the Black Monk, which horrifies rare passers-by.

The Legend of the White Pani

This story is more popular in Golshany. It allegedly occurred during the construction of the Franciscan monastery, which was located near the castle.

Builders who built the monastery, promised a large reward, if they finish the work at the appointed time. But something the masters did not develop - one of the walls constantly gave a crack and several times destroyed. Then the workers came to the conclusion that a successful end to the work should be sacrificed. They decided that the woman who first appears in this place, and becomes the most unhappy. She turned out to be the wife of a young worker, she was walled in a collapsing wall.

Many believe that this legend is based on genuine events. During the excavations conducted in 2000 in the monastery, a skeleton of a girl with traces of violent death was found under the wall. Workers who discovered the remains and independently buried them without burial service, very soon passed away, but the strangest thing is that later the grave could not be found.

About this girl tells the ancient legend, or not, is unknown, but the monastery still haunts the soul, which is called the White Panna. Townspeople argue that in recent years it has become increasingly common. Local residents say that she does not like men (and there is something for that), after meeting with the White Pani, people for a while lose their orientation in space.

Legend of the mill

The mill, referred to in the legend, is at the beginning of the town. Now only walls remained of her. But at night it comes alive and "starts to work." People assert that it is clearly audible how the grindstone creaks, horses are neighing, and the miller's voice is heard.

Anomalies of the castle

If you happen to visit the castle Golshansky, then the residents will tell you one more story. Almost twenty years ago, and maybe more, the teacher of the local school promised his students that he would let them go on vacation earlier if they brought him eighty bricks. The schoolchildren followed them to the castle, where one of the boys died - a wall collapsed. Residents of Golshan believe that this happened not accidentally. To the same anomalies, they include the sound of a working old mill, which has long been empty on the outskirts of the village.

Several times scientists came to Halšany to check how true these stories are. All are unanimous in the opinion that there are abnormal phenomena.

Golshansky Castle today

Once the magnificent castle of Golshansky is called by many a real open-air museum - here you can see the remains of towers and walls, arched ceilings. Every year thousands of tourists come here who want 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, the castle was a small cleaning of the area from the brick, which accumulated near the walls for many years. The outlines of the palaces and walls were more clearly expressed, as they were half filled 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 sburtovano into a huge trash pile. The authorities plan to begin the reconstruction of the palace at the end of 2015.

Golshany Castle - how to reach

If you are going to visit the Golshansky Castle in the near future, then you can choose two ways - to use public transport or go on a trip by private car.

In the first case, you need to take a bus in Minsk (East Bus Station), the next one on the route Minsk - Traby, which will take you to Golshany.

By car you should go to the MKAD - Minsk ring road. Take the exit for the M6 (about 65.4 km). Then turn right and continue straight for 3.4 km. After that, on the circle, turn to the 2nd exit. Continue on the H8245 (12 km).

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