A castle complex «Mir», or Mir Castle, is a unique monument of Belarusian national culture and a masterpiece of Belarusian architecture. It is included in the UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage List. It is a national symbol and object of national pride.

The castle complex «Mir» includes a XVI century castle, ramparts of the XVI – XVII centuries, a pond of the late XIX century, a roadside chapel, a funeral chapel of the dukes Sviatapolk-Mirskis with a guardhouse and gates, landscape and regular parks, an economist house.

Built at the beginning of the XVI century by tycoon Juryj Ivanavič Iĺjinič, Mir Castle became the first privately owned castle on the lands of Belarus. Since 1568, it belonged to the dukes Radzivils, and in the XIX century – to the dukes Vithienštejns and Sviatapolk-Mirskis.

Mir castle is the easternmost Gothic building, as well as the greatest model of the original Belarusian Gothic. The castle is close to a square in plan with a side of about 75 meters, in the corners there are five-story towers of 25–27 meters high, which go beyond the walls. The fifth tower is six-story, with an entrance gate.

For its time, it was a powerful military structure, where almost all known elements of fortification were used.

Almost all the wars that took place on Belarusian land, starting from the Russian «flood» of the middle of the XVII century and ending with the war of 1812, somehow involved the castle. More than once it was besieged and stormed, more than once it was damaged.

Restorations and rebuilding of the castle did not make significant changes to its volumetric-planned and compositional systems. Mir Сastle retained its original stylistic elements of the Gothic and Renaissance times and acquired new features, characteristic of the Baroque style and romanticism. All this created a complete image of a unique structure, which did not have any of its own kind in the lands of the Baltic states, Poland and Russia.

Since 1989, the castle complex «Mir» was a branch of the National Museum of Art. In 2011, it got the status of an independent museum. Today the castle has a hotel, restaurant and cafe. A ticket to the museum allows, in addition to visiting the halls inside the castle, going around the galleries and going up to the towers, where a separate part of the exhibition is located.

Publication date: 17.08.2020.

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