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Radziwill Castle: History and modernity

The Radziwill Castle in the city of Nesvezh is one of the most beautiful buildings in the whole of Eastern Europe. This palace has an interesting history and attracts many tourists and researchers.
Nesvizh Castle, which belonged to the aristocratic Radziwill family, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most beautiful buildings not only in Belarus, but throughout Eastern Europe.
Radvziwill Castle: the history of construction
The first member of the family to own the city of Nesvizh was Jan Radziwill. He inherited the city as a dowry from his wife, Anna Kiska.
It was Yang who built the first fortifications (an earthen rampart), built a dam on the Usha River, and built the first wooden castle on the resulting peninsula. This building has not been preserved to this day. The wooden structure was destroyed by Jan's son, Nikolai Radziwill (Cherny), who began the construction of the stone fortress.
Then, already in 1583, Nikolai Christopher (Sirotka) began to rebuild the Radziwill Castle. The owner used the design of the famous Italian architect Giovanni Bernardoni, and a magnificent palace appeared on the site of the nondescript fortress, which housed an excellent library, a kunstkammer and 12 huge halls.
Military history of the castle
Despite all the splendor of the Radziwill Castle, this building was mainly of strategic importance. The palace was an impregnable fortress, surrounded on three sides by the waters of the Usha River, and marshy marshes covered the approaches to the castle from the ground. An earthen rampart with equipped bastions served as additional protection. A foundry producing an artillery piece operated on the castle grounds.
Nesvezha Castle has never withstood a siege, and its walls served as protection for the inhabitants of the city during military operations. The fortress was first captured in 1706 by the troops of Charles XII. The fortress was almost completely destroyed.
But by 1726, King Stanislav Radziwill had restored the family castle, additional fortifications appeared in it, and the Baroque style, which was fashionable at that time, was decorated.
A magnificent flight of stairs appeared in the palace, the walls were decorated with paintings depicting the glorious military victories of the Rodziwill family, the walls were decorated with carved garlands and moldings.
The last owner of the castle from the Nesvezhsky Rodziwills family, Dominic, sided with Napoleon in the Patriotic War of 1812, and then fled with the troops to France. By decree of the Russian Emperor Alexander, the possessions were transferred to other members of the family, who created a whole system of beautiful parks with ponds on the castle grounds.
A castle in the twentieth century
Since 1939, when the lands of Western Belarus were annexed to the Soviet Union, the palace was deserted and gradually fell into disrepair. The art objects were transferred to museums or simply stolen.
During the war, a military hospital for German pilots was organized in the castle.
After the war, a sanatorium was located within the palace walls. In the 90s, the castle was deserted, and its restoration began only in 2000.
The castle today
The restoration work at Nesvizh Castle has not yet been fully completed. But visitors can already inspect the building itself and some of the interior interiors. The gorgeous Nesvezhsky parks have also been restored.

Concerts,
ethnic and music festivals are often held on the territory of the castle.,
historical reconstructions.
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