Ołyka has been permanently connected with the Radziwiłł family since the 16th century. The first family residence was a fortress located on a flat area near a pond. Subsequent owners of Ołyka successively extended the residence. In the mid-18th century, a spacious residence was built, which consisted of four wings, and their interiors were richly decorated with frescoes, stucco and gilding. A monumental entrance gate led to the main three-storey wing of the palace. The establishment was accompanied by gardens in the French type.

A magnate town

The history of Ołyka dates back to the 15th century. The history of Olyka dates back to the 15th century, when it was supposedly founded by Piotr Janowicz Montygerdowicz of the Wadwicz coat of arms (died c. 1498) , Grand Marshal of Lithuania. After his death, the estate passed to his widow, Anna of Viazovichs . Then Ołyka was inherited by his granddaughter, Anna Kiszczanka (d. 1532) , married to Jan Radziwiłł "Brodaty" (1474-1522) . His son, Mikolaj "Black" Radziwill (1515-1565) , Grand Chancellor of Lithuania and Voivode of Vilnius, obtained from Emperor Charles V the hereditary ducal title "on Ołyka and Nesvizh", approved by King Sigismund Augustus in 1545. Mikolaj "the Black"'s son, Stanislaw Radziwill (1559-1599) , starosta general of Samogitia, created an ordination on the Olitsa estate in 1586 to prevent its fragmentation and transfer into foreign hands. His brothers did the same: the voivode of Vilnius, Mikolaj Krzysztof "Sierotka" (1549-1616) , with the Nieświeski estate, and the Bishop of Vilnius, Cardinal Jerzy Radziwiłł (1556-1600) - with the Klecki estate. The brothers agreed that in the event of the expiry of any of the three lines of inheritance, a given ordinariate would pass to the one most active.

Such a fate befell the Ordynacja Ołycka relatively fast: the first Ordynat became the founder Stanislaus, the second his half-brother, Mikolaj Krzysztof "Sierotka" . , and the third son, Albrycht Stanislaw (1593-1656) , Grand Chancellor of Lithuania. After his heirless death, the Ołyckie estate passed to the sixth Ordynat of Nesvizh, Michał Kazimierz Radziwiłł (1635-1680) , Field Hetman of Lithuania and Castellan of Vilnius. The last ordinate of Ołyk and Nesvizh was Dominik Radziwiłł (1786-1813) , who was deprived of them by the Tsarist government for joining the army of the Duchy of Warsaw and participating in the war against Russia. In 1814, after long efforts by Adam Czartoryski, Tsar Alexander I revoked the arrest and the Ołyck and Nesvizh estates passed to the descendants of the Klecko Radziwill line. The last, thirteenth Ordinate of Ołyka was Prince Janusz Radziwiłł (1880-1967).

The family palace

The first residence of the Radziwill family in Ołyka was said to have been built by Mikolaj Radziwill "Czarny", around 1564. It was a fortress, located on a flat area near a pond. It is known that in 1686 the residence was two-storey and consisted of only seven rooms, a chapel and four rooms on the first floor with a hall. A gate led into the palace grounds, over which in 1640 Chancellor Albrycht Stanislaw Radziwill erected a magnificent plaque commemorating his administration of the Olyck palace. There was also a chapel in the gate building, above the passage.

Subsequent owners of Ołyka successively expanded the residential complex. In 1737, the palace itself was still not very impressive, and was in need of urgent renovation. It was completed before 1755. when another description of the castle was made. The reconstruction was initiated by Michał Radziwiłł "Rybeńko" (1702-1762) , Voivode of Vilnius and Grand Chancellor of Lithuania, who at the same time was renovating the family castle in Nesvizh. When the work was completed, a spacious residence was built in Olytus , consisting of four wings with diagonal alcoves at the corners turning into triangular bastions. Opposite the main three-storey wing of the palace was a monumental entrance gate , emphasised by a high tower placed on the axis. The palace was accompanied by French-style gardens . The interiors were richly decorated with frescoes, stucco and gilding.

The reconstruction of the old palace into a residence matching the aspirations of the Radziwills was the responsibility of Johann Georg Knackfuss (d. after 1770) , a gardener, planner, architect and builder, who lived in Ołyka and served the Radziwills for more than fifty years (ca. 1720-ca. 1770). It is believed that Jakub Fryczyński (d. after 1778) , architect, major-general of the Lithuanian army and commander of the Ołyka garrison, who was recorded as having rebuilt the palace in Zhovkva (the Zhovkva estate belonged to the Radziwill family until 1787), may also have played a part in the construction.

Times of decline and renewal

From the beginning of the 19th century, the castle in Ołyka was in decline , which was connected with the confiscation of the estate by the tsarist government. In 1812, the palace was taken over by a hospital, which operated until 1836. After its liquidation, the residence stood empty and deteriorated, the Radziwiłłs caring neither for Ołyka nor for Niasvizh.

It was only in the second half of the 19th century, on the initiative of Maria de Castellane Antoniowa Radziwiłł (1840-1915) and the 12th Entailer Ferdinand Radziwiłł (1834-1926), that the renovation began (circa 1860). At least in the initial phase, the works were to be directed by the Lviv architect Zygmunt Gorgolewski (1845-1903) , best known for the construction of the Lviv Grand Theatre. After the restoration work (1882), the palace in Olytsya was once again inhabited by representatives of the Radziwill family.

During the First World War, the front line passed through Olyka , and it was only a miracle that the residential complex and the magnificent collegiate church opposite were not completely destroyed. However, the rich palace interiors suffered and were plundered and destroyed. The last major renovation was carried out (after 1920) by the thirteenth Entailer, Prince Janusz Radziwill . The palace briefly regained its former splendour and family splendour. The next devastation came in 1939 with the occupation of Ołyka by Soviet troops.

In 1945, the authorities of Soviet Ukraine arranged a psychiatric hospital in the palace , which still functions today. The ruined palace is undergoing ongoing renovation. The few surviving pieces of the mansion's furnishings are displayed in the Volyn Landscape Museum in Lutsk.