Name:  Lutsk
Location: Volyn 
Country: Ukraine 
Review this castle

This beautiful and majestical castle stands in the capital of Volyn region,
the city of Lutsk. It's a typical Ukrainian fortification of 13th-14th cc.
Sometimes this castle is called "the upper castle " or the castle of Lubart
Hedyminovych (it's the name of one of the first host of the stronghold , the famous warrior prince ). The castle was build between the Styr and the Maly Glushets rivers and from the north it 's surrounded with a swamp-and such a location made the castle hard to access. During the Middle Ages walls and towers (Nadbramna, Styr and Vladycha )were 3-storeys and crenellated (the remnants of merlons are seen even now ).But with the course of time (and development of weapon ) the old bastions needed  reconstruction. In 14th c.one more story was added to the towers , the walls were lifted up to 3-4 m(now they are 12 m high ), and double series of arrow-slits appeared. In the same time the lower( or "okolny") castle was build.But this castle remained unfinished.

  The castle is triangular. 3 towers are square and their forms are simple
and  majestic and the same time. Vaults and contrforses only amplify the
simplicity and strength  of the castle. Nadbramna tower is the centre of the stronghold.
  Inside of the castle there was a palace of the prince, the palace of the
bishop, the Cathedral and barracks. The architect of these buildings was Luka from Priashiv. But only  the bishop palace and the prince palace preserved.
Romano-gothic in the beginning, the castle looked like typical Renaissance
fortress later. The restorations took place in 1970-1977 and in 1985-1987.
There is a museum in the castle now ,the most interesting department of it
are "The Arsenal", "Bells" and "The Dungeon".

The above information and pictures were provided by Sergey Gnap.