Stare Selo Castle

Stare Selo Castle is a castle in Stare Selo village, Lviv Raion, Lviv Oblast, Ukraine. This castle, or fortress, was built by the princely Ostrogski family.

Its original timber fortifications, first mentioned in 1448, were destroyed by the invading Turks in the late 15th century. A more secure stone fort, intended to defend the Bârlad Road from Lviv to Romania, was built in Stare Selo in the 1580s. Those walls were breached and rendered useless by Khmelnytsky's Cossacks during the Siege of Lviv in 1648.

The existing fortress, almost triangular in shape, with 15-metre high walls and a ceremonial gate on the south side, was commissioned by Prince Władysław Dominik Zasławski, one of the last members of the Ostrogski family. The citadel was erected in 1649-54 and formerly contained the palatial residence of Prince Zaslawski, one of the richest landowners of Eastern Europe and brother-in-law of King John III Sobieski.

After Prince Zaslawski died in Stare Selo in 1656, the fortress gradually fell into disrepair, although it successfully withstood a siege by the Turks in 1674.

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

Stare Selo Castle ranks #3,484 of 8,133 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #58 of the 188 mapped in Ukraine. Founded 1448, it is older than 51% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 454 atlas entries founded in the 15th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,302 times in the last 60 days, more than 55% of the atlas. 8 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Ivano-Frankivsk, 94 km away. See how Ukraine compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗