Drohiczyn Castle – built in Drohiczyn on a slope above the Bug River in the 14th or 15th century by Lithuanian or Masovian dukes. The first wooden castle, located within the fortified settlement, was repeatedly destroyed until the 14th century. It was then destroyed by Duke Janusz Mazowiecki in 1382. Then, in 1383, during Jagiełło's capture of the castle, according to Stryjkowski, Ruthenians in Masovian service in the castle set fire to the wooden fortifications at night and fled to the Lithuanian side. The voivode of Sasiny, along with the remnants of the Masovian settlement, was taken prisoner.[1] The castle, rebuilt during the Jagiellonian rule, was later transformed into an administrative and judicial seat, losing its military significance. In 1612, the existence of a castle in Drohiczyn was mentioned by an inspector of the Franciscan monastery, who wrote, "a wooden town without defensive walls, except for the castle." The castle likely housed the town court and served as the seat of the royal starost. This manor house was destroyed during the Swedish Deluge and, due to lack of maintenance and the mountain's slide into the river, was completely destroyed. Only the residents of Drohiczyn remember a small square structure standing here, which housed the so-called upper tower and lower tower—a civil arrest and criminal prison for the nobility. In 1788, this tower was demolished. The remains of the demolished structure are the carved stone blocks found at the bottom of the former moat. Until the 1980s, the entrance to the dungeons, located in the mountainside, beneath the rampart, was still visible.
Currently, the Castle Hill massif constitutes only a small portion of the hill that once housed the castle buildings. At the top of Castle Hill there is an obelisk, erected in 1928 on the 10th anniversary of regaining independence.
Translated by Google •
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