Back
Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Starosillia Castle today looks like a huge ruin near Lviv, but once it was a powerful fortress with high walls, six towers, and moats. At various times within its walls there were also a palace, warehouses, a distillery, and even a brewery where beer was brewed.
The castle’s towers are especially interesting: their tops were decorated with Baroque elements, and one of them preserved a stone structure in the shape of a crown. This was meant to emphasize the status of the fortress’s owners — the princes Ostrozhsky-Zaslavsky, who were regarded as extraordinarily influential rulers of Rus, writes 24 Kanal.
Why is Starosillia Castle so large?
Starosillia Castle is located in the village of Stare Selo near Lviv. Its area is about 2 hectares, and the perimeter of the defensive walls is approximately 500 meters. The walls once reached 14–16 meters in height.
The fortress has the shape of an irregular pentagon. Initially it was fortified with six towers, but only three have survived to the present day. The defensive walls are adorned with arcature — rows of decorative arches that gave the austere fortress a rather unusual appearance.
Fuel
Average prices at the Amic Energy gas station network as of
The first fortifications on this site were still wooden. At the end of the 16th century the Ostrozhsky princes began building a masonry fortress here.
In the years 1584–1589, the construction likely involved Lviv architect of Italian origin Ambrosius Prykhylny.
The fortress experienced a difficult history. In 1642 construction of a new castle began, but already in 1648 during Bohdan Khmelnytsky’s campaign to Lviv the structure suffered serious damage. After that it was rebuilt again.
In the years 1649–1654 a powerful masonry fortress was erected, which was intended to serve several functions at once: to be the owner’s residence, a defensive stronghold, and a place where locals could shelter during an attack.
It had high walls, moats, and fortifications. And those fortifications were indeed needed. The castle held out during one of the subsequent sieges, and in 1672 it withstood an attack by Ottoman troops.
Where did the crowns on the fortress come from?
One of the most interesting details of Starosillia Castle are the decorative finishes of its towers. The towers were decorated with Baroque stone carving, and their tops resembled crowns.
This decoration was not accidental: it was meant to demonstrate the status and wealth of the castle’s owners. According to one interpretation, the crowns emphasized the Ostrozhskys’ claim to a special status — they were called the “uncrowned kings of Rus.”
Part of this ornamentation on one of the towers has survived to this day.
What remains of the castle now: Inst: @dr_shevchuk
Why did they start... brewing beer in the fortress?
Perhaps the least obvious chapter in the castle’s history began when its military importance gradually diminished. New owners did not take much care of the fortress.
A distillery, grain warehouses, and a brewery appeared on its territory. In other words, a structure that once protected people from attacks later turned into a kind of economic complex. According to local history sources, the beer produced behind the castle walls was in demand.
So at some point Starosillia Fortress could have been associated not only with defense but also with local production.
There’s even a legend about eggs in the walls
A rather bizarre local legend is associated with the castle. According to it, during the construction of the fortress eggs and milk were added to the mortar to make it stronger. There is also a story about a nobleman who was sentenced to death but was given a chance to save himself: he had to bring to the construction site a whole cart of eggs so that none would be broken.
The man supposedly found a cunning way — he boiled the eggs and then loaded them onto the cart. However, his resourcefulness did not help, and the punishment was carried out anyway.
From fortress to ruin
In the 19th century the castle was purchased by the Potocki family. During Alfred Potocki’s time part of the complex was used as a brewery, distillery, and warehouses. A railway line Lviv–Chernivtsi was laid nearby, and the fortress gradually lost its former significance.
After 1939 the castle was left without its former owners and began to decline. In the Soviet period it was used, among other things, as collective farm warehouses, which also did not contribute to the preservation of the monument.
At the beginning of the 21st century the structure was at least partially cleared. In 2007 the territory was cleared of self-seeded trees and vegetation, and the work was financed by singer Ruslana Lyzhychko.
Later the castle was transferred into concession for 49 years, but the planned restoration was never fully carried out. Today, from the once enormous fortress there remain massive walls and three towers. Even in this state, Starosillia Castle clearly shows how rich the past of a single structure can be.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Корони на вежах і найсмачніше пиво: які таємниці ховає найбільший замок Львівщини". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: Channel 24.
