The majestic castle in Brzeżany (now in the Ternopil region) made such a great impression on Juliusz Słowacki that the bard compared it to Wawel. Indeed, the building resembles its Cracovian counterpart and has witnessed many important events in Polish history.

In various periods of its existence, the castle belonged to such illustrious families as the Lubomirski, Czartoryski, Sieniawski and Potocki families. But in history this object remained as the "Sieniawski castle". This was probably due to the fact that it was Mikołaj Sieniawski who contributed to the development of Brzeżany and built the castle itself.

Mikołaj Sieniawski builds the castle
. The Sieniawski family became owners of Brzeżany in 1493 through the marriage of Rafał and Agnieszka Cebrowska. His wife bequeathed him, among other things, this town and a number of other settlements. In 1530, the Ruthenian Voivode, Mikołaj Sieniawski, Rafał's son, was granted city rights for Brzeżany by Sigismund I the Old (the king allowed - as stated in the relevant document - "the noble and valiant Mikołaj from Sieniawa, in consideration of his faithful services, to found, create and endow" a town under Magdeburg Law. This made it possible to hold fairs for the Ascension of the Lord and St Peter in Fetters. Thus, the medieval settlement acquired a new status, began to develop and became the seat of a powerful family.

As the lands of the Commonwealth were the target of Tartar and Turkish attacks, Mikołaj Sieniawski built a defensive castle in Brzeżany. Some Ukrainian researchers believe that the basis of the new building was the old castle. Nikolai used the already existing walls, two to six metres thick, and the irregular geometric shapes of the building. Thus, "the massive medieval building was obscured by Renaissance ornamental motifs [...]". Subsequent researchers assume that Mikołaj Sieniawski built the castle with a half-timbered construction. Its southern part with the walls, semicircular and pentagonal tower was built of stone, the rest was made of wood. Tomasz Kunzek describes the building as follows: "The castle building forms an almost regular pentagon enclosed by two- and three-storey residential buildings, a spacious courtyard and three towers at the corners, the outer wall of the south-eastern corner most decorated has windows with beautiful stone frames, at the top a wide arcaded frieze with pilasters that housed the shooting galleries". In its appearance, the castle resembled "buildings of the same type from medieval times" and had "outstanding defensive qualities". An inscription on the Renaissance gate with shields stated that the fortress was built "to the glory of God and for the defence of faithful Christians".

The castle was situated in a lowland - an unusual solution for Podolia fortresses, which usually dominated the cities. Thus, the planners of Brzeżany took advantage of, firstly, the arms of the Zolota Lipa river and, secondly, the marshy terrain for defence. The structure was built "on an island, in a formerly inaccessible place, defended on all sides by water, ponds and marshes". The swampy ground meant that thousands of oak piles were driven into the river bed (legend has it that Tartar prisoners were involved in the work). Only above the piles were cellars with very thick walls, with vaults supported by stone pillars, placed.

On the guard of the Republic
In order to meet the threats from the enemy, the fortress had to be constantly modernised and improved. Thus, during the lifetime of Mikołaj Hieronim Sieniawski (1645-1683), Field Hetman of the Crown and Voivode of Volhynia, the fortifications of the castle were strengthened with a Dutch fortification system. Systematic care was taken to equip the armoury. For example, in 1672, there were 48 cannons, 117 hooks, hundreds of rifles, muskets, pistols, iron balls and bombs in stock.

These efforts proved successful. The fortress in Brzeżany withstood frequent Tartar incursions, as well as Cossack sieges in 1667, 1672 and 1675 (in the last case, the Sejm even paid tribute to the Sieniawski's "for saving the country from perdition"). It was not captured by the Turks in 1655 and 1667, which is why the old chronicles noted: "It was experienced by Rplita that the border fortresses were protected, taming the impetus of the enemy forces [...]".

In 1698, August II set out on a march to recapture Kamieniec Podolski occupied by the Turks. According to the Bielsko Chronicle, "he stood near the city [Brzeżany] in three camps, with the Saxon army standing separately, and the Polish and Lithuanian armies separately [...] The king inspected the Polish and Lithuanian armies separately and greatly enjoyed them [...]".

Family and political life
The castle in Brzeżany was also the family residence of the Sieniawski family. Here is how - according to the inventory compiled by the castle's commandant Aleksander Daszkiewicz - the family's private rooms looked like in 1672: "All the rooms were covered with crimson or green brocades, supraports, genre and religious paintings, etc. On the first floor, there were rooms called Vienna rooms, named after the painting of the Battle of Vienna on the ceiling [...] The second floor was occupied by golden rooms decorated with the heads of famous people, wood-carved and with paintings of mythological content". The Sieniawski family spared no expense in furnishing their flats, as they wished to match the standard of living of Polish kings. Their ambitions are not surprising, as they were related to Władysław Jagiełło through the monarch's fourth wife.

In the courtyard of the castle was a church. It was built in stages. First the Gothic part (now the presbytery) was built, followed by the western (right) chapel funded by Katarzyna Kostka Sieniawska. The left chapel, built in 1624, was funded by her son Mikołaj, the Crown Chamberlain. The church contained an 'exquisite altar of white marble with a mosaic of coloured marble and a mosaic image of the Virgin Mary'. The church also contained crypts with the remains of the Sieniawski family.

The family built up an impressive fortune. It owned a network of mills, butcheries, inns and breweries. It exported cattle herds of 600-700 head each to the West. It owned factories producing crystal glass.

The castle was frequented by, among others, Peter I and Augustus II Saxon, as well as many other mighty men of the world. Adam Mikołaj Sieniawski, hero of the battle against the Swedes at Kalisz, intended to establish the Polish crown after the death of August II Sas. He was in favour of an alliance with Russia and supported the policy of Peter I, with whose help he planned to ascend the throne. This was opposed ... by his own wife Elisabeth - the woman convinced the Russian tsar that her spouse was unsuitable for the role.

After the Sieniawski reign
After the death in 1776 of the last of the Sieniawski family - Adam Mikołaj - Brzeżany became the property of the Czartoryski family. This happened through the marriage of his daughter Zofia to August Czartoryski. Their daughter Elżbieta married Stanisław Lubomirski, Grand Marshal of the Crown, and brought Brzeżany as her dowry. Aleksandra, Stanisław's daughter, married Stanisław Potocki (1755-1821), President of the Senate of the Kingdom of Poland. Thanks to this marriage, the Potockis ruled the castle and the town for over 100 years. The last owner of Brzeżany (as well as Wysokie Litewski, Helenow near Warsaw and several other landed estates) was Jakub (1863-1934), son of Stanisław and Maria née Sapieha. He did not marry and had no children. He set up a foundation bearing his name to fight cancer and tuberculosis. He donated the key of Brzeżany and other properties, as well as cash and works of art, to this cause. The foundation was active until the outbreak of the Second World War.

After 1945, these areas found themselves in the Soviet Union. The new authorities did not care for the castle and at one point one of its walls collapsed. The church was brought to ruin, so the vault was supported by a reinforced concrete ceiling and a gymnasium was built (fortunately, the sarcophagi survived, as they had previously been taken to Lviv and Krakow).

In the post-Soviet period, the strenuous - but unfortunately slow - restoration of the Brzeżany castle and church continues.