Belarus: Castles and Palaces, History and Legends

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Castles of Belarus are defensive structures built on the territory of modern Belarus in the 13th–17th centuries. Most of the castles have not survived to the present day. A castle as a type of structure is a defensive object that represents an enclosed complex of defensive, residential, and other specialized buildings, serving residential as well as administrative and public functions. Castles were built in locations convenient for defense — on elevations ("mountainous") or in lowlands ("valley"), and had regular or irregular plan compositions. In the territory of Belarus, the construction of wooden castles was widespread (in Svir, Orsha, Radoshkovichi, Pinsk, Gomel, Glusk, Mogilev, and other places) as well as stone castles (Lida, Kreva, Novogrudok, Mir, Bykhov, Smolensk, Lyubcha, Lyakhovichi, and Zaslavl castles).

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