Description of the attraction
Golshansky Castle, praised by Vladimir Korotkevich as the "Black Castle of Olshansky", was once the most beautiful castle of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It was called the "Stone Flower of Mannerism". The floors were covered with ceramic tiles, the windows were made of thick stained glass, the walls were painted with wonderful frescoes, and throughout the castle there were many beautiful tiled fireplaces. The Golshany Castle was also famous for its deep vaulted dungeons.
Golshany Castle was erected in 1610 for Pavel Sapieha. The sapegas of Golshany got as a dowry for the last princess Golshanskaya. The castle was a rectangular defensive structure surrounded by impregnable walls that formed an inner courtyard. Hexahedral towers were built in the corners and one pentahedral in the center - with an entrance gate. The castle was surrounded by earthen ramparts and moats.
The castle was destroyed during the Great Northern War and the War with the Swedes. The destruction was completed by its last owner, who ordered to blow up the castle for the sake of building material for the inn.
One of the most famous mystical legends of Belarus - the legend of the black monk - is associated with the Golshany Castle. Once upon a time the beautiful and proud princess Hanna-Gordislava Golshanskaya lived in the castle. The father kept the girl in severity so that she hardly saw any of the men - only the servants of the castle. It so happened that the girl fell in love with one of the rootless young men Gremislav Valyuzhinich, and he reciprocated her. Someone reported about secret meetings of lovers to Prince Golshansky. The suspicious prince, having locked his daughter from strangers in the family nest, got angry and immured the princess's beloved alive in the castle walls. Since then, a ghost has been seen many times in the Golshany castle, called by the locals the Black Monk - a young man dressed in black clothes, similar to a monk's robe, walks in the ruins of the castle on moonlit nights and looks for his beloved.
