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Lutsk is one of Ukraine’s most ancient cities. For a long time, it was not a particularly popular destination for tourists. Now, more and more people are recognizing Lutsk for the variety of sights it has to offer.
One site to see its castle, built in the 10th century.
“At that time it was wooden,” tour guide Anastasia Varman said, “Four centuries later when Lithuanian prince Liubartas came to the city, they began to reinforce the walls. Prince Liubartas has also erected two towers. The main one served as an entry point.”
Those wishing to climb the entrance tower of the Lutsk Castle, also known as “Lubart’s Castle,” have to conquer 112 stone steps. From the upper viewing platform, the city’s Old Town can be seen. From the top of the tower, the trumpet sounds precisely at noon every day.
In 1429, the castle hosted European monarchs at a diplomatic gathering known as the “Congress of Lutsk.”
“The congress considered two main issues. The first one was how to protect Europe from the Ottoman Empire – the attacks of the Turks. And the second was the coronation of the Lithuanian prince Vytautas,” Varman said.
There are several museums on the territory of the fortress. Historical medieval tournaments are also regularly held here at the fortress. A medieval combat club has existed in Lutsk for nine years. Their reenactments add to the atmosphere for the castle’s visitors.
“Here in Lutsk, training takes place, for instance, three times a week for two hours. Therefore, it is quite possible to obtain a serious level for participation in all-Ukrainian competitions,” captain of the medieval fight club Serhiy Vashchuk said.
Just a stone’s throw from the castle lies St. Peter and Paul Cathedral. The Catholic church, designed by Italian architect Giacomo Briano, was built in the 17th century. In Soviet times, it became a museum of atheism. However, since the early 1990s, it’s once again hosted regular mass.
Lutsk also boasts what some refer to as a “second castle,” – the House of Chimeras. Its creator, Mykola Holovan, has been constructing it for almost 40 years.
It’s adorned inside and out with more than 500 sculptures of beasts, birds, and mythical creatures – in a variety of architectural styles including Gothic, Renaissance, Modern and more.
“I started to build a side facade in a sacral theme – the apostles. At the time, in the Soviet period, they began to reproach me, claiming that the images of saints do not fit into the Socialist Realism. But I continued to create sculptures devoted to different topics, including erotic ones. After all, a naked woman’s body is beautiful,” Holovan said.
Lutsk also offers a structure not even advertised in travel brochures, but yet one that undoubtedly deserves mention. The apartment house on Sobornosti Avenue and Molodi Street – at a whopping 3,029 meters long – is the longest residential building in the world. Some 9,000 residents live in it. It was constructed over 11 years, from 1969 to 1980. Vitaliy Novytskiy considers it absurd that the house isn’t shown to tourists and hopes to initiate a tourist route.
“Most tourists come here to take nice photos. We want to equip photozones on elevations, where a person can have a picture taken against a beautiful background. Tourists would walk on the roof of the house in a special climbing equipment to be safe,” Novytskiy said.
Offering a pleasing mixture of modernity and an ancient history , Lutsk attracts more and more tourists each year.
