Место бывшего замка в Друскининкай

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Место бывшего замка в Друскининкай

Druskininkai Castle

Druskininkai Castle is one of the best vantage points in the city. People have always enjoyed watching the bend of the Nemunas River here. Between the wars, the Polish Marshal Juzef Pilsudski was particularly fond of this place — he used to sit for hours looking at Lithuania on the other side of the river. Romantic historians of the 19th century claimed that a well-fortified wooden castle had been built here in the 13th century, which helped Lithuanians defend themselves against the crusaders. This is confirmed not only by written records, but also by the finds of 1826 at the bottom of the hill, at the Nemunas River, by Teodoras Narbutus, and by the castle cemetery he excavated in the vicinity. However, today we cannot verify these claims, as the hill was severely damaged by the flood of 1841. Druskininkai was also swept away by the current: bridges were destroyed and a number of summer houses were destroyed. The current widened and deepened the Ratnyčėlė riverbed and washed a large part of the castle hill into the Nemunas.