Online version of the Lida Castle audio guide
Lida city and Lida Castle
Lida city is the administrative center of Lida district, located on a on flat terrain (the Lida Plain) in the interfluve of the tributaries of the Neman – Zhizhma, Lideya (or Lideika) and Ditva, where as long ago as the Middle Ages the important roads connecting Lida with Novogrudok, Vilna, Grodno, Slonim and Minsk acrossed.
Nowadays, the city occupies more than 24 square kilometers, it is one of the most important industrial centers of the Republic of Belarus, the second largest city in Grodno region of more than 100 thousand people.
The date of the city foundation is considered to be 1323, when Grand Duke Gediminas began the construction of the Lida Castle.
Its creation was due to the threat of Crusader invasions of the Belarusian and Lithuanian lands. This outpost of the lands that are adjacent to Neman was being built for about 5-7 years, was a part of the line of defense (Novogrudok — Krevo — Medniki —Troki) against the Teutons.
Lida Castle was being built as a castle of the Castell type. In the XII - XIV centuries, there in Western Europe was a stone castle called by Castell, which usually had one or two high towers and was built on fill in a low-lying marshy area.
For the construction of the Lida Castle, it was chosen a small sand dune in the marshy confluence of two rivers - Lida and Kamenka.
The Castle was built on an artificial hill (made of sand and gravel) with a height of 5-6 m.
The Castle is a trapezoid in plan view, the total length of the walls is 341 m, the longest one is 93.5 m - the northern wall, the shortest wall is 80 m - the southern one, the western and eastern walls are almost the same - 84 and 83.5 m. The walls thickness in the lower part is 2 m, narrowing down to 1.5 m uppermost. The height of the walls is 14 m.
Nowadays, the city occupies more than 24 square kilometers, it is one of the most important industrial centers of the Republic of Belarus, the second largest city in Grodno region of more than 100 thousand people.
The date of the city foundation is considered to be 1323, when Grand Duke Gediminas began the construction of the Lida Castle.
Its creation was due to the threat of Crusader invasions of the Belarusian and Lithuanian lands. This outpost of the lands that are adjacent to Neman was being built for about 5-7 years, was a part of the line of defense (Novogrudok — Krevo — Medniki —Troki) against the Teutons.
Lida Castle was being built as a castle of the Castell type. In the XII - XIV centuries, there in Western Europe was a stone castle called by Castell, which usually had one or two high towers and was built on fill in a low-lying marshy area.
For the construction of the Lida Castle, it was chosen a small sand dune in the marshy confluence of two rivers - Lida and Kamenka.
The Castle was built on an artificial hill (made of sand and gravel) with a height of 5-6 m.
The Castle is a trapezoid in plan view, the total length of the walls is 341 m, the longest one is 93.5 m - the northern wall, the shortest wall is 80 m - the southern one, the western and eastern walls are almost the same - 84 and 83.5 m. The walls thickness in the lower part is 2 m, narrowing down to 1.5 m uppermost. The height of the walls is 14 m.