Prince's tower, chapel and alabaster hall. When will the Old Castle receive the first visitors and what will the guests see in the renovated royal residence

The first stage of the reconstruction of the former royal residence of Stefan Batory is nearing completion.

Although experts focus on the fact that less than 20% of the planned volume of work has been completed at the moment, the scale of changes to the Old Castle is certainly impressive. It is enough just to look around this majestic building to understand: a lot of effort has been invested, and the work done is colossal.

The start of a large-scale reconstruction of one of the oldest castles in Belarus was given back in 2017. Financing of the work is carried out within the framework of the State and regional investment programs.

According to Yuri Kiturko, the director of the Grodno State Historical and Archaeological Museum, the first stage of the reconstruction included the construction of the entrance and middle towers from the Neman side, the restoration of the fortress wall with a gallery between the towers, the construction of a measuring hut, a stone wall adjacent to the wall, as well as the laying of all necessary communications.

- Now the first stage of reconstruction is entering the home stretch. Construction and installation works are nearing completion: finishing of premises inside the building, final installation of wiring, lighting. The pavement is being laid in the courtyard. Not so long ago, a metal gate was installed from the inner arch at the entrance to the territory of the Old Castle. At the moment, the installation of an external wooden gate is underway. It should be noted that both were made by JSC Belrestavratsia, said Yuri Kiturko, noting that the museum staff are directly working on the creation of the future exposition. It is planned that the first visitors will be able to see it this summer. Special display cases are now being manufactured. The items for the construction of the museum exposition have been selected and are waiting in the wings. 

- The second large area of ​​work is the creation of multimedia content. We hope that its diversity will surprise visitors. For example, in the information kiosks that will appear in the museum rooms, everyone will be able to “look through” the information and thereby get acquainted with interesting information about the expositions, objects presented in them, enrich themselves with knowledge about historical personalities directly related to the castle, said Yuriy Kiturko.

The director of the museum has no doubts that the 3D projection of the castle will delight the residents and guests of the region. Let's tell you a secret, the spectacle is exciting: thanks to the created multimedia effect, you will be able to take a fresh look at the royal residence, see how it looked before. Such innovations will bring the stories of the guides to life.