Mir Castle

Mir, Belarus, Belarus

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Mir Castle, officially the Mir Castle Complex, is a 16th-century fortified castle and residence in the town of Mir in the Grodno region of Belarus, recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000.

Built in the 1520s for Duke Ilinich in a style that combines Gothic brick fortification with Renaissance and later Baroque elements, it stands on the right bank of the Miranka River as a square building with four corner towers up to 25 metres high, thick walls of brick and stone, and military galleries, originally set within a large park and defensive earthworks.

The castle changed hands several times, passing to the powerful Radziwill family in the 17th century and later to the Wittgensteins and the Svyatopolk-Mirski family, and it suffered major damage during the 1812 war, the First and Second World Wars, and was used as a prison and ghetto camp during the Nazi occupation, after which it fell into disrepair before being reopened to the public in 2010 following extensive restoration.