Lida Castle
Lida Castle or Gedimin’s Castle is a fortification in the Belarusian city of Lida. The fortress was built for defense against the Crusaders. It is the oldest and the most besieged of the Belarusian castles, which survived to this day in a rather shabby condition and was restored only by 2010. The main highlight of the attraction is its emphasized ascetic appearance, which distinguishes it from the Mir and Nesvizh castle and palace complexes. If you pass by Lida, take time to look behind the walls of this severe stone giant.
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Video: Lida Castle
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History of the construction of Leeds Castle
The construction of the citadel in Lida began in 1323, by order of the Lithuanian Prince Gedimin. At that time, the city was part of Lithuania. In order to make the fortification as impregnable as possible, it had to pour a giant sand hill and dig an artificial lake, which a few centuries later dried up and completely disappeared. Gedimin himself rightly believed that the construction of such an impressive object would be a good investment in the fight against the Crusaders and the Moscow principality.
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The castle was completed in a record time for that time – 7 years, having spent on its construction one and a half million bricks. As a result, the walls housed not only armory, but also living quarters, barns for livestock, a church and even prison casemates. Already from the end of the XIV century the fortification began to attract the attention of foreign invaders. Thus, in 1384, its walls were stormed by Crusader troops, who destroyed part of the brickwork.
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Eight years after the invasion of the Crusaders, the English and German knights took possession of the castle, later expelled from it by the inhabitants of the fortress. The XV century was not the most peaceful for the building either. First the castle was besieged by Smolians, who were then replaced by the army of Prince Svidrigaila and detachments of Crimean Tatars. The fortification was also owned by the Moscow princes, but this happened in 1659.
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It is generally believed that the most irreparable damage occurred to Gedimin’s castle during the Great Northern War. Then the Swedes stormed the citadel twice, finally blowing up its towers. Tadeusz Kosciuszko’s troops also contributed to the destruction of the ancient object, as they used the ruins of the fortification as a shelter from the advancing Russian army. In 1891 a fire occurred in Lida, in which almost all the buildings of the center perished. The townspeople had no money to rebuild their homes, so the local authorities offered to dismantle the castle walls for building materials. Together with the brickwork, the hill of the castle, from which the sand for construction was hauled by trains, was also damaged.
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After a while, rumors about the arbitrariness of the Lidčans reached the Imperial Archaeological Commission, after which the dismantling of the castle buildings was officially banned. However, by that time the industrious townspeople had managed to brick up the entire south-west tower. The first attempts to reconstruct Gedimin’s heritage were made in the 20s of the XX century, when Western Belarus was temporarily ceded to Poland. Later, the castle grounds were used by traveling circus troupes, a huge skating rink was poured on them at Christmas, and in 1941 a prisoner-of-war camp operated on the territory of the fortress.
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The second phase of restoration work at the Leeds Castle began in 1987, but was never completed due to lack of funding and the collapse of the USSR. The authorities were able to pay attention to the problems of the ruinous landmark only in 2006. As a result, the citadel got a restored southwestern tower, new walls and a wooden gallery.
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What to see and do
Visits to Leeds Castle are organized by the staff of the city museum. One of the most popular programs is “Gedimin’s stronghold”, which, in addition to a sightseeing tour, includes a theatrical performance on the theme of medieval life and interactive games. Those who wish to get a “portion” of goosebumps are recommended to look at the permanent exhibition “Twilight of the Middle Ages”, covering the history of the development of torture craft. In addition to the iron maiden, the rack and the Spanish boot, familiar from historical movies, there are also lesser-known but no less horrible instruments of punishment for gossipers, gluttons and other violators of the biblical commandments.
Walking through the halls of the fortress, it is impossible to pass by a couple of mannequins in luxurious robes. These are the figures of Gedimin’s grandson Prince Jagailo and his wife Sophia Golshanskaya, who were married in the walls of the Lida castle. It is curious that by the time of the wedding the groom was 71 years old, and his bride – only 17. In addition, before his marriage to Sophia, the voluptuous prince had managed to send three wives to the other world. Not far from the eminent couple is a table with a fake wedding feast. Explore its assortment, striking in its unpretentiousness.
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In the galleries and exhibition rooms of the castle you can find knight’s armor, which is not refrained from trying on and then clicking historical selfies in it. You should not be too deceived, though, as most of the exhibits are made by modern craftsmen. From authentic archaeological finds you can see chipped ancient dishes and tiles, but most of the artifacts scattered to museums, so in the citadel there are only their photos.
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For children’s groups in Leeds Castle organize exciting game programs like “Journey to the Past” with a variety of workshops. The only difficulty is that you need to sign up for the event in advance. It is even better to plan a visit to Gedimin’s possessions on the eve of one of the festivals of historical reconstruction. Fans of staged rallies gather in the sandy courtyard regularly, so if you like fire shows and spectacular performances, which fight good bearded men, look for information about their time in advance.
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Among other things, in Gedimin’s castle you can stock up on original souvenirs – there is a small shop with medieval paraphernalia in the courtyard of the fortification. There are also curious traveling exhibitions in the fortress, so visit the group Vkontakte or Instagram to keep up with the latest news.
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Legends of Leeds Castle
If there are no ghosts in the castle, they should be invented urgently to have a better chance of selling a tour to a foreign tourist. In the case of the Lida citadel, there is almost no need to fantasize – in a structure with such an ancient history, all sorts of things have happened and not always explainable from the point of view of common sense. One of the most popular fables says that during the attack of crusaders’ detachments the defense of the castle had to be held by the retinue of Prince Dmitry Koribut. When the cunning leader realized that the forces were not equal, he ordered the soldiers to stand to the death, and he quickly escaped from the fortress through an underground passage. Allegedly since those very days on galleries of Gediminov’s possessions and wander the knights torn by the vigilantes, looking for the soul of their prince.
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Visitors
You can visit Lida’s “town-forming” landmark from Tuesday through Sunday, from 10:00 to 18:30. A sightseeing tour of the fortification will cost 10 BYN (approximately 294 RUB). In addition, the castle is allowed to organize medieval weddings with theatricalization for a quite democratic 350 BYN.
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How to get there
You should look for Gedimin’s Castle on Zamkovaya Street, located within walking distance of the bus and train stations. Usually tourists come to Lida from Minsk or Grodno. All three cities are connected by the M-6 highway, which is regularly used by shuttles and buses. It takes 1.5-2 hours to get there.
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