Galician (Starostynskyi) castle, Halych

Halych Castle stands on top of Halych Mountain. To be more precise, the ruins of the defensive wall and a tower remain of the former majestic fortress on the right bank of the Dniester. Today, Halych Castle (also called Starostynskyi Castle) is part of the Ancient Halych National Reserve.

Halych Castle was built in the mid-15th century. However, as early as the 13th century, according to historians, it was most likely the court of the boyar Sudyslav, a personal enemy of Danylo Romanovych. It is impossible to establish exactly who initiated the construction: some attribute it to Casimir III, others to the Volyn prince Lubart.

It is known that it took almost 100 years to rebuild Halych Castle. It became one of the largest strongholds in all of Galicia. The fortress was so large that it could accommodate about 1,000 soldiers, several dozen cannons, and a lot of firearms at a time.

Throughout its history, the castle has been stormed more than once. In 1490, a peasant army led by Mukha tried to take it, and from 1594 to 1621, the Tatars did so. In 1676, the Beylerbey of Damascus, Ibrahim Pasha, nicknamed Shaitan, and his army destroyed Halych Castle. The castle in Halych was rebuilt, but later the fortress lost its defensive significance.

There are two ways to climb the Castle Hill in Halych. The best way is to use both of them: to go up first (the road up the stairs starts near Christmas Square, near the memorial plaque "Heavenly Hundred"). The second way is to go down: to find the road, you need to walk east up Castle Hill. There is a nice park around, and the ramparts offer a beautiful view that is worth taking pictures of.