Pidhirtsi Castle
Podhoretsky Castle is a magnificent palace in the Lviv region, made in the late Renaissance style. Together with the Zolochevsky and Olessky castles, he creates the "Golden Horseshoe of Ukraine". The castle was used as a set for the movie "D'Artagnan and the Three Musketeers".
The Podgoretsky castle is designed in the form of a square, surrounded from the west, east and south by defensive fortifications, as well as a moat with water. The first mention of fortifications in this place dates back to 1530, but the castle in its current form began to be built only in 1633. After Stanislav Konetspolsky, the Hetman of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, acquired these lands. The fortifications were designed by the architect Guillaume Levasseur, Andrea del Acqua took up the project of the palace, the construction itself began in 1635 and lasted until 1640. During this time, all the fortifications and a square palace with a platform for repelling possible attacks were built. One could enter the castle by passing through a huge arch. The first notable guest of the castle was the Polish King Vladislav IV, for whom they even arranged fireworks. The quiet life of the castle came to an end in 1648, when the uprising of Bogdan Khmelnitsky began. During the fighting, the castle suffered severe damage, which began to be repaired only in 1656, but already in 1688, the Podhoretsky Castle was seriously damaged during a Tatar raid.
In 1720, Stanislav Rzhevusky bought the palace, and together with the castle, Stanislav inherited the nearest villages. In 1728, a complete renovation of the castle began, during which a third floor was added to the two-story palace, more rooms were added, and a Hetman's entrance was built for the guests of the castle. Vaclav Rzhevusky, Stanislav's son, collected a lot of paintings and old weapons in the castle. After the death of Wenceslaus, the castle changes several owners and slowly falls into disrepair. The last owner of the castle was Evstakhy Sangushko, who carried out the restoration of the castle in 1867-1903. With the advent of Soviet power, the Podhoretsky Castle became a museum, during the Great Patriotic War the castle was significantly damaged, and the property was looted. In 1949, the castle was given over to a sanatorium for tuberculosis patients, and only in 1997 it was given to the Lviv Art Gallery.
The interior design once amazed all the guests. Each room had a name: Ritsarsky, Chinese, Mirrored, Green, Mosaic. In all the rooms there were copies of paintings by famous Western artists, portraits of the owners of the Podhoretsky castle, paintings by the artist Jacob de Baan, Chekhov. The dining room was decorated with portraits of famous politicians. No less impressive is the castle's Italian-style park. Its landscape is thought out to the smallest detail, creating a single composition with the castle.
