Zolochiv castle would be opened to visitors

On the World Museum Day, May 18, near Lvov, after 24 years of restoration, would be opened one of the most popular Ukrainian castles - Zolochev castle.

The Perl of Ukraine, Zolochiv castle, is a unique monument of medieval history and architecture, which harmoniously combines monumentality and the late Gothic and Renaissance elegance, sophistication and classicism. Nowadays a medieval monument is a unique attraction of Ukraine, which is annually visited by more than 130 000 tourists from all over the world.

The castle was mentioned for the first time in 1532, when its owner Stanislav Seninsky sold the property of Zolochev to a gentleman Gurkov from Poznań. Subsequently, the castle had a long history of substantial reconstructions and completions, as well as being in the possession of such well-known Polish-Lithuanian families as Sobieskiy and Radzivil.

The feature of Zolochev castle is the so-called Chinese Palace, an elegant two-storey building in the Renaissance style. The palace was built by the famous Polish king and Lithuanian Grand Duke Jan III Sobieskiy to his beloved wife Mary Kazimierz de Arkuyon and is currently one of three preserved buildings of such type in Europe. Also there is a magnificent garden in the style of the late Renaissance in the castle.

One of the mysterious sights Zolochev castle are the stones at the castle yard covered with mysterious characters and images. History of the mysterious inscriptions is still an unrevealed mystery, but according to one legend, the images are the part of the code that points to the countless riches of the Order of Knight Templars.