UKRAINE. HERITAGE. TRAVEL
Svirzh: My Favorite Castle in Ukraine
And the quiet, picturesque village around it
A castle in Svirzh village concedes in popularity “Golden three castles” of Lviv region (Pidhirtsi — Olesko — Zolochiv), and in vain. For me, it is the most beautiful castle in Ukraine. The renaissance handsome under a tile roof rises on a picturesque hill above a pond, just in the Galician hinterland.
Svirzh village lies on the coasts of two ponds, divided by road Bibrka — Peremyshliany. It’s easy to get there from Lviv bus station #5 (but unlikely you can find its current schedule on the Internet).
The castle is visible immediately off the road.
A valley with ponds looks quite picturesque by itself, moreover, in a dreamy nap of the fine autumn morning.
And if we add the castle to this, we’d get one of the best landscapes in the region.
It’s possible to bypass half of the pond while a fishing trail curls in the grass. From the opposite side, there are the best views of this jewel. But unambiguously, not in the morning, when those views are exactly against the sun.
Now let’s look at the castle closer. From the pond side, a Lower yard is located. There were utility buildings and a stable. The yard has a separate entrance. One of the towers stands uncharacteristically from the middle of the wall but not from the corner.
A view of the opposite, eastern side:
Svirzh, the town in the past, was owned by a few families that changed with kaleidoscopic speed, especially in the 19th century. In Soviet time, the castle was used as a tractor plant (facepalm!), later, as a rest house of the Union of Architects. A few episodes of the “Three Musketeers” movie (1978) were made here. The last thorough restoration took place in 1975–83.
A deep and wide ditch covers the south-eastern wall and an entrance gate. Although, the castle wasn’t inaccessible, and cossacks or Tatars grasped it at different times.
And, I guess, it’s a shame that there were no tourists (and no hotels or even a single cafe as well). Even a big part of Ukrainians don’t know about this place, let alone foreigners. Of course, I loved to walk around the castle alone. But we have not a rich country to skip such abilities to get foreign currency this way.
The main portal has a completely preserved decoration and an inscription above the entrance, and an interesting bas-relief in the form of a griffin:
Views to the right and left directions from the gate:
The castle has some working hours on Monday — Friday (f*ck as convenient), I visited it on Monday, and it was closed, of course. Also, a stationary phone number is present on Google, but really it’s disabled. And no one wire is connected to the building, and it was possible even not to check.
For this reason, I could look at the inner yard only through a hole in the gate. About interiors, it was said that all is deplorable.
A little away from the castle, there is a 5-corner tower and a manhole. Most likely, these are the remains of the very first fortifications, which date back to 1484.
To come in from the backyard and come out through the main entrance had already become a good tradition for me.
Some places worth seeing in the village too. First, a former mill on the 2nd pond coast. With a tiled roof and surrounded by willow thickets, it looks wonderful everywhere: near and far, over the water or without it.
Against the castle’s entrance, there is a church of the Assumption owned by Greek Catholics now. Because of lousy restoration, it isn’t easy to see it was built long ago, in 1546. In addition, the time has revealed all the shortcomings of negligent work.
Above the road, almost opposite a bus stop, a small church of the Intercession (of 1901) is located.
Another big deal was to find out the schedule of reverse buses, but I was lucky to catch one after only a few minutes and go quickly to my next planned point.
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