There are hardly any castles in the world that went through such roller coaster transformations – from royal residence to a hospital, vocational school for farming machinery mechanics, ghost-haunted ruins, museums, crumbling structures in perpetual state of restoration where cows and goats graze on once well-kept lawns. If you expect to see well maintained castles similar to those scattered around Western Europe, then this tour is not for you. Instead, these scarred castles reflect complex and tragic history of Western Ukraine and, in combination with other sites and villages along the way, make for a nice day trip outside of Lviv.

Castles (fortresses) around Lviv are sometimes called "Golden Horseshoe Castles" as they are located in a sort of an arc stretching east and southeast of Lviv. They include castles in Olesko, Pidhirtsi, Zolochiv, Pomoriany, Svirzh and Stare Selo. The castles in Olesko, Svirzh and Zolochiv are the best preserved ones, others lie in different stages of ruination. Olesko Castle dates back to the 13th century being the oldest. It is known as a birth place of the famous Polish king Jan III Sobieski. Now the castle is open as a museum featuring 16th and 17th century art. Some of these castles were built at the time when there was no longer any real need to defend the land from invasions of nomads from the East, so they were built as palaces for the Polish aristocracy who owned vast areas of land in Western Ukraine.

Zolochiv Castle was a residence of the Sobieski noble family on a hill at the confluence of two small rivers in the south-eastern part of Zolochiv, Galicia (now part of Ukraine's Lviv Oblast). The rectangular fort was built in 1634-36 by Jakub Sobieski using the labor of enslaved Crimean Tatars. The Sobieski castle comprised solid walls in a then current Dutch style, with four pentagonal towers at each corner, and the so-called "grand palace". The Chinese Palace, a diminutive mauve-colored rotunda flanked by one-storey wings, was added later in the century as Jan III's gift to his French-born wife, Marysieńka.

In 1672, the castle was taken after a 6-days siege by the Turks under Kapudan Pasa. Three years later, it survived a new siege by the Ottoman army. After Jakub Ludwik Sobieski's death in 1737, the castle passed to the Radziwill princely family and then (in 1801) to Count Łukasz Komarnicki whose heirs sold it to the Austrian crown in 1834.

In the 19th century, the castle was adapted for use as a hospital and barracks. It was turned into a prison in 1872 and continued in use after the September Campaign. There's a chapel commemorating the victims of the NKVD on the grounds of the castle.

Since 1985 the complex has been supervised by the Lviv Art Gallery and under restoration. Recently it began to open its grounds for visitors. Exhibits include more than 25 European coats of arms, dinosaur bone chandeliers, and a replica of a typical royal crown from the 13th century, that could be similar to that of Daniel of Galicia.

Zolochiv is first mentioned in the annals history in the year 1442, and on March 15th of 1523 the town adopted the Magdeburg Rights, making it a member of the loosely knitted medieval version of the EU super-state. This palace- fortress has been a regional gem for over five centuries, but much like nearby Olesko Castle its history is intricately intertwined with that of its most famous residents and owners King Jan III Sobieski and his wife Marie Casimire Louise, Queen of Poland. King Jan Sobieski began reconstruction of today’s castle with a mind to creating both a splendid royal retreat and a defensive stronghold where his forces could hold out against enemy raids from the south and east. Sobieski first made his name as a commander during the great uprising of Ukrainian Cossack leader Bohdan Khmelnitskiy, and throughout his life the security of his empire’s eastern marches remained his gravest concern, so it is perhaps fitting that he should have left so many architectural fortifications here as a monument to his rule. The castle today remains a place of mystery with secret passages abounding and an underground entrance linking the interior of the palace building with the outside world.

The pride and joy of Zolochiv Castle was historically its superior toilets and plumbing, which were the wonder of the early modern palace interior design world. The intricate pipe works and clever use of naturally occurring water pressure were extremely rare for the seventeenth century and remain one of the finest examples of their kind still in existence today.

During the 1690s, Queen Marie often vacationed in Zolochiv and thanks to her presence a distinctive Chinese palace appeared in the castle grounds which is still delighting visitors by playing host to regular exhibitions of eastern art and tea ceremonies. Zolochiv castle was owned by the Sobieski family till 1737, when it was sold to Sandomir governor Tarla, who in turn later passed the collection of properties over to the Radziwil noble family until eventually, in 1834 Zolochiv Castle became the property of the Habsburg government. At first, the Austrians

used the castle as a military base before turning it into a hospital and, years later, a prison. When in 1939 the Soviets invaded Halychina region, special units of the Stalin’s NKVD (People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs: the leading secret police organisation of the Soviet Union charged with liquidating all perceived sources of opposition to the Soviet regime) used the site for mass executions. In 1995 close to the castle a small chapel was erected as a memorial to the victims of the NKVD terror. Until 1953 Zolochiv Castle continued its grim existence

as an isolated prison, but with the death of Stalin it was transformed into a technical school before becoming the property of Lviv Art Gallery and a designated site of historical interest in the 1980s.

As you would expect for somewhere with such illustrious associations Zolochiv is wrapped up in myth and mystery. The focus of most legends are the two giant slams of rock which lie close to the castle and are inscribed with a mysterious text in some unknown medieval form of script which no archaeologist or academic has so far been able to decipher. Legend has it that the huge stones were brought to Zolochiv by leading lights of the medieval Templar Order. The secrets they continue to hold have been keeping scientists guessing for centuries and continue to delight tour guides and local wags to this day. Visitors to Zolochiv are invited to place their finger in a small indentation in one of the stones and turn it either clockwise or anti-clockwise, depending on the nature of the wish you would like to make. If your wish is material in nature, then twist towards the thorn wreath to one side of the hole.

If you are wishing for a romantic adventure, twist towards the blooming wreath! Due to the efforts of Lviv Art Gallery Director Mr. Boris Voznytskyi, who is a great castle enthusiast, Zolochiv castle has become considerably more beautiful over the past few years, however, much renovation work remains ahead for this Lviv treasure.

Zolochiv Castle is attraction to many tourists. The easiest way to get there is by flight to Lviv and then with a car. The castle is 65 km away from the city.