Old Castle

Grodno, Belarus, Belarus

---

The Old Castle in Grodno (also called the Old Grodno Castle, Upper Castle, or Stefan Batory’s Castle) is one of the oldest and most important castles in Belarus, situated on a high hill at the confluence of the Neman and Gorodnichanka rivers and serving since the 11th century as the core of the first fortified settlement and then the princely residence of Black Ruthenia and later the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

The first wooden castle was built in the 11th century, and from the 12th century Grodno became the centre of a powerful principality, with the castle receiving stone walls and towers; in the 14th century it was enlarged and fortified as the residence of Grand Duke Vytautas (Vitaut), with defensive walls, towers, and a regal terem (a residential tower) built in the style of 12th-century Grodno architecture.