Navahrudak Castle

The former castle in Navahrudak, Belarus (Belarusian: Навагрудскі замак, Lithuanian: Naugarduko pilis, Polish: Zamek w Nowogródku) was one of the strongholds of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, cited by Maciej Stryjkowski as the location of Mindaugas's coronation as King of Lithuania as well as his likely burial place. On the opinion of Lithuanian historians (T.Baranauskas etc.), there is no information that King Mindaugas lived or visited Navahrudak at all - it is Maciej Stryjkowski's 16th century written conjecture in the interpretation of legends.

As early as the 14th century, the Principality of Navahrudak is known to have possessed a stone tower along the lines of Tower of Kamyanyets. Other fortifications were made of timber. The castle was stormed by the Teutonic Knights under Heinrich von Plötzke in 1314. Although the attack was not successful, the tower sustained substantial damage.

During the reign of Vytautas the Great four new stone towers were added to the system of Navahrudak fortifications. In the 17th century, the main castle boasted 7 towers, apart from those of the Lesser Castle. Navahrudak was one of the northernmost forts besieged by the Crimean Tatars in the 16th century.

Navahrudak was twice occupied by Russian forces during the Russo-Polish War (1654–67). Further destruction was inflicted by the Swedes who sacked Navahrudak as part of the Great Northern War in 1706. Attempts to preserve the ruins from further decay were undertaken in the 1920s. The castle grounds at present provide the setting for medieval reenactment and theatrical jousting.

Text adapted from “Navahrudak Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Navahrudak Castle ranks #1,113 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #10 of the 39 mapped in Belarus. Founded 1201, it is older than 77% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 825 atlas entries founded in the 13th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 3,168 times in the last 60 days, more than 76% of the atlas. 1 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. See how Belarus compares in the castle statistics.

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