The complex of the Old Castle is a monument of history and architecture of the XII–XIX centuries – the residence of princes and kings of the times of the Principality of Grodno, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The complex will house an updated exposition of the Grodno State Historical and Archaeological Museum.
The stone castle was built in 1398 by order of Prince Vitovt on the site of the former wooden fortress.
Many have heard the story about the monkey of the Grodno Prince Vytautas the Great, who lived in the castle in the prince's chambers. During the fire, she woke up the guards and saved the life of her master and his wife. According to another legend, another, more exotic animal, a navy seal who lived at the court, saved Vitovt from death in the fire...
At the same time, by order of Vytautas, the construction of a Gothic stone castle began. Its construction was completed around 1400. A powerful fortification was built, approaching the triangle in plan. The castle had 5 towers, the length of its walls was about 300 m., and their thickness in places reached 2.5-3 meters. In 1579, by order of King Stefan Batory, the Italian architect Santi Gucci rebuilt the castle into a Renaissance palace.
After the decision in 1673 to hold every third Sejm of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in Grodno, a building was erected near the castle wall on the Neman side, which was intended for holding meetings of the sejms. In 1708, the building was severely damaged by the Swedes, after which it was not possible to use it.
In 1729, another reconstruction took place in the Old Castle, which was led by architect K. Pepelman. Outbuildings were demolished from the Gorodnichanka side, a barracks was built along the Neman part of the castle, the courtyard was paved for a parade ground. A third floor was built over the central part of the palace. After the renovation, various services and part of the king's retinue were placed in the Old Castle. Throughout the XIX century and the beginning of the XX century. the castle was under the jurisdiction of the military authorities: Russian, German and Polish.
On the territory of the Old Castle are the ruins of the Lower Church, built in 1160-70. and an example of the Grodno architectural school. Rectangular in plan, the temple was divided into three naves by six pillars. The walls were stacked with their thin plinths, and the voice boxes were embedded in them. Large stones were used in the lower parts of the walls. The church was a castle temple, which was destroyed by fire in 1183. The ruins of the temple were discovered during excavations in 1932-33 by Y. Iodkovsky.
The Upper Church was built in the XIV century on the site of the Lower Church on a paved platform. It was a small, square temple (8,9 x 8,9 m) with cut corners, a brick floor, a semicircular-elliptical apse. The eastern part of the walls, up to 1.5 m high, part of the southern wall with a south-western corner and a pillar have been preserved.
The entrance brick arch bridge to the castle, built instead of a wooden one in the second half of the XVII century, is today the oldest bridge in the Republic of Belarus.
Grodno Old Castle was declared a historical and archaeological reserve "Castle Mountain" in 1967. In 2015, the reconstruction of the Old Castle began, in November 2020 it received the first tourists.