Skarbka Castle

The first mention of Rozhniativ dates back to 1464. In the fifteenth century, a well-fortified castle was built on a high hill in Rozhniativ. The castle had two loopholes and two underground passages: to the forest in the Baturyn tract and to the Basilian monastery (now the Podmonastyr). It was surrounded by a deep moat with water. Its construction is associated with the name of Count Skarbok, and it is also called the Skarbek Castle. The Skarboks, along with the Potocki, Jablonowski, and Koniecpolski families, were the largest Galician magnates.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the district court and the police were housed in the castle-palace of Skarbka. Photographs from the 1930s by photographer Yaroslav Koval make it possible to see that the Skarbka Castle no longer performed any protective functions for Rozhniatov at that time. It was more of an administrative manor house with a spiked tower overlooking it. Today it is a district police station with noticeable Gothic bows of keyhole windows, but without a tower. Now this building hardly resembles a castle. The true appearance of the castle is preserved in paintings and old photos.

The once majestic Scarbeck Castle, now a police station, is located in the village of Rozhnyativ, Ivano-Frankivsk region. It is easy to find the attraction. It is enough to move from the bus station towards the village and turn right at the first turn. Today, only a hexagonal corner tower and one meter thick walls remind us of the building's medieval past. The two-story building houses the police station.

Rozhnyativ is connected to many cities and towns of Ivano-Frankivsk region by rail. Thus, the most popular direction is the train Rozhnyativ - Ivano-Frankivsk. The castle is located on Shkilna Street. Traces of the fortifications have been preserved on the ground: moats, slopes, and remains of walls. The castle palace with the tower was rebuilt into a police station; only the architectural elements on the tower remain of the old decor.

The castle now looks like a palace. However, it became a palace in the XVIII century, when Count Skarbek built a Renaissance-style structure on the basis of the old towers and walls. Moreover, the swamp at the foot of the hill (which strengthened the castle's defense capabilities) was turned into a large pond, which reflected the castle. The fortification itself has existed since the fourteenth century. At first, it was a defensive courtyard guarding the way to the Carpathians (the next fortification was Perehynskyi Castle). Later, stone fortifications were built, from which the rebuilt tower has survived, the walls became part of the palace, but the defensive moat is still visible on the ground. The castle had dungeons, which are now mostly filled up. The castle came to the Skarboks in the early eighteenth century, when Karl Benoît gave his daughter in marriage to Count Raphael Skarbok, and Rozhniativ was given as a dowry. If Karl Benoît was the official guardian of the Potocki family, then obviously these lands used to belong to the Potocki family.

Now, if you ask Rozhniativ residents where their castle is, not everyone will answer this question. The locals do not consider the building, which is now a police station, to be a landmark. Most likely, when you ask them what is interesting to see in Rozhniativ, they will say that you need to go see the Angel's Blast Furnace, which is in front of Osmoloda.