Qualla: Biržai Castle

Biržai Castle: Introduction

Sat, 25 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Lazdynas at Lithuanian Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0. In 1575, before laying a single stone of Biržai Castle, Krzysztof 'Piorun' Radziwiłł built a dam. Two small Lithuanian rivers, the Agluona and the Apaščia, met at a confluence near his lands. The dam closed the gap and the waters backed up into a long, shallow artificial lake called Širvėna, the largest in Lithuania at the time. Only then, with the lake protecting his northern flank, did Radziwiłł begin construction of the fortress. By 1589 he had the strongest castle in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania: an Italian-style earthwork bastion fort, the first of its kind in Lithuania and one of the first in all of northeastern Europe. The lake came first because the engineer knew that water defends what walls alone cannot.

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Image: Lazdynas at Lithuanian Wikipedia | CC BY-SA 3.0

Biržai Castle: Why a Bastion Fort, and Why Here

Sat, 25 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Aleksasfi, CC BY-SA 3.0. Krzysztof Radziwiłł was called 'Piorun,' meaning thunderbolt, for the speed of his cavalry raids. He was also Grand Hetman of Lithuania, charged with defending the Commonwealth's northern border against Livonia and the threat of Sweden. The high stone walls of medieval castles ha...

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Image: Aleksasfi | CC BY-SA 3.0

Biržai Castle: The Swedes at the Gates

Sat, 25 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Ymblanter, CC BY-SA 4.0. On August 7, 1625, the design was tested. King Gustav II Adolf of Sweden, the era's most feared commander, brought about 8,000 troops against Biržai. The first siege failed. A second siege beginning September 7 succeeded. The garrison surrendered, and the Swedes hauled away sixty...

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Image: Ymblanter | CC BY-SA 4.0

Biržai Castle: Two Centuries of Ruin

Sat, 25 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Unknown author, CC0. After 1704, Biržai Castle was a heap of rubble on a lake shore. The Radziwiłł family kept the title but lost interest in rebuilding. In 1811 the property passed to the Tyszkiewicz family. Emperor Alexander I of Russia, in a rare gesture toward heritage preservation, ordered in 18...

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Image: Unknown author | CC0

Biržai Castle: What Lives in the Castle Now

Sat, 25 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Wojsyl, CC BY-SA 3.0. Inside the rebuilt Biržai Castle today is the Sėla Regional History Museum, founded in 1928 and named for the ancient Selonian people who once lived in this part of the Aukštaitija region. The collections trace a Baltic story most travelers have never heard: pagan Selonians, the ...

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Image: Wojsyl | CC BY-SA 3.0