Online version of the Lida Castle audio guide
Mednitsky Castle (model)
Medininkai (Mednitsky) Castle, located 2 km from the border with Belarus, it is the largest defensive castle in Lithuania.
The exact date of the Castle construction is unknown, but it is сonsidered that it was built in the first half of the XIV century in the time of the Grand Duke Gediminas to protect the eastern approaches to Vilna. The first mention of the Castle in written sources dates back to 1387. The only documented case of its siege dates back to 1402, when it was besieged by the forces of the Crusaders and Svidrigaila (Svidrigailo), but was not taken. Already at the time of Vytautas, the Castle began to lose military importance and, eventually, was abandoned after a fire that occurred at the turn of the XV and XVI centuries.
At its height, the Castle had four towers and four gates. It belonged to the Castell type castles and represented a quadrangular perimeter surrounded by a brick wall with a donjon tower in one of the corners. The other three towers were smaller and protected the gates. There were located wooden buildings inside the Castle. Both in appearance and at time of construction, the Medininkai Castle was close to the Kreva and Lida castles, which formed a single defensive system with it.
The exact date of the Castle construction is unknown, but it is сonsidered that it was built in the first half of the XIV century in the time of the Grand Duke Gediminas to protect the eastern approaches to Vilna. The first mention of the Castle in written sources dates back to 1387. The only documented case of its siege dates back to 1402, when it was besieged by the forces of the Crusaders and Svidrigaila (Svidrigailo), but was not taken. Already at the time of Vytautas, the Castle began to lose military importance and, eventually, was abandoned after a fire that occurred at the turn of the XV and XVI centuries.
At its height, the Castle had four towers and four gates. It belonged to the Castell type castles and represented a quadrangular perimeter surrounded by a brick wall with a donjon tower in one of the corners. The other three towers were smaller and protected the gates. There were located wooden buildings inside the Castle. Both in appearance and at time of construction, the Medininkai Castle was close to the Kreva and Lida castles, which formed a single defensive system with it.