Description of the attraction
The fortress house in Gaityunishki is the residence of the Nonharts family. Nonharts are Dutch by nationality, who came at the invitation of the Grand Duke of Lithuania. Petr Nonhart received Gaityunishki as a reward for his service as Vilna mayor and head of royal buildings.
The engineer Petr Nonhart independently developed the project of the castle in the Dutch style. He was assisted by the engineer-fortifier Van Daden.
This miniature snow-white fortress under a high red tiled roof was built in 1612 on the left bank of the Zhizhma River. The rectangular two-storey building is reinforced at the corners with round towers. A rectangular three-story tower is built in the center of the castle above its main entrance. The once impregnable walls of the fortress, reaching 1.5 meters in thickness, were surrounded by deep ditches filled with water and were additionally guarded by bastions.
After the death of Peter Nonhart, the house-fortress in Gaitinishki went to his only daughter, who married the governor Yuri Khreptovich. After the death of his father, the family castle was inherited by Adam Khreptovich. Among the owners of the fortress house was the famous artist Schrötter, who painted the walls of the house with paintings depicting hunting scenes. During the Great Northern War, the Swedes settled in the castle, who were besieged by Polish troops.
Today, the picturesque white castle houses a hospital for mentally ill criminals, who were sentenced by the state not to prison, but to compulsory psychiatric treatment.
There are also the ruins of the Nonharts family tomb, built in 1633, and outbuildings dating back to the late 19th century.
