About Drohiczyn Castle
Castle Hill on the banks of the Bug River in Drohiczyn is the largest hill in the area. This place has always had natural defensive values, and also allowed for control of traffic on the river.
According to legend, the first stronghold on the site of today’s Castle Hill was built by the Yotvingians. In the first half of the 11th century, after the victory over the Yotvingians, the Ruthenians built a wooden stronghold there. It was to guard the borders of Kyivan Rus, among others, against Poles from nearby Masovia.
In the 12th century, the stronghold in Drohiczyn became the center of an independent Ruthenian principality. In 1274, Drohiczyn came under the rule of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Trojden.
Polish princes from Masovia also sought to rule over this place. Over the following decades, the stronghold was conquered, destroyed, rebuilt, and then destroyed again by Poles or Lithuanians. In the 1380s, the power of the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Jagiello, was consolidated in Drohiczyn. At the beginning of the 15th century, Jagiełło, already the King of Poland, ceded Drohiczyn to his cousin, the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Vytautas. The prince appreciated the significance of this place.
During Vytautas’ reign, a square tower, made of stone and brick, and the buildings of a wooden palatium were erected on the remains of the former stronghold. The whole was surrounded by earth and wooden fortifications. In the western part of the fortifications, there was most likely a gate. The fortifications were probably entered over a bridge over the moat. The residence on Castle Hill supposedly became one of Vytautas’s favourite residences. According to local legend, Vytautas loved Drohiczyn so much that before his death, he ordered it to be burned so that no one else could get it. However, historical sources do not confirm this event.
In 1498, the Grand Duke of Lithuania Alexander Jagiellon founded a city near the stronghold, which later became the capital of the Podlaskie voivodeship. The stronghold had long ceased to serve any defensive purposes, so in the second half of the 16th century most of the earthen and wooden fortifications were dismantled. The former, expanded palatium, called Vytautas’ Castle by local residents, housed the seat of offices. Unfortunately, during the wars in the mid-17th century, Drohiczyn was plundered several times by Tatars, Hungarians, Swedes and Russians. The castle fell into ruin and was never rebuilt. Only the square tower survived, housing only the court archive and a criminal prison for the nobility. At the end of the 18th century, the tower was finally dismantled, and a new seat of administration was built from the material in the city. No trace of the former Vytautas’ castle remains. The current Castle Hill is also much smaller than it was centuries ago, due to the escarpment being eroded by the Bug River.
Address: Zamkowa, 17-312 Drohiczyn
Useful tourist information:
https://www.polskieszlaki.pl/gora-zamkowa-w-drohiczynie.htm
https://www.nocowanie.pl/gora_zamkowa_w_drohiczynie,224565.html