Miêdzybórz is an urban-type settlement in the Khmelnytsky region with a population of around 2,000. During the Polish rule in Podolia, one of the largest fortresses defending the Commonwealth against the Tatars and Turks was located here. It was here that Tadeusz Kościuszko fell in love with the young Tekla Żuromska, while the Czartoryskis put the lofty ideas of public enlightenment into practice.

The village is situated between the Bohemian and Bo¿ek rivers, hence its name. The very existence of Międzybórz is documented as far back as the 12th century. It was ruled by the Rurykovichs, the Dukes of Halych, and the Koriatovichs. In 1366, the latter built a defensive castle there. In the 15th century, the Interborky key was a royal estate granted to starosts of border lands. The first owner of the Interbanksy key was Mikolaj Sieniawski (1489-1569), Voivode of the Ruthenian Leliwa Coat of Arms. He also owned other extensive estates: Stara Sieniawa, Dawidkowce, part of the Latyczów district, in which he founded the town of Mikolajów in his honour (now the village of Novomykołajivka). Among other things, he was involved in cattle trading, which he bought in Moldova and sold to Silesia. He also owned horse studs.

From the Sieniawski family to the Czartoryski family
Międzybórz was both a town and a fortress on the so-called Black Route, which was used by Tartar and Turkish troops to penetrate deep into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This town, "defensive by its very nature, surrounded by marshes and forests", was a refuge for the local population during enemy incursions. Mikołaj Sieniawski believed that "it is necessary to strengthen the borders, and not to pursue the enemy across the boundless steppes". This is why he expanded the castle that belonged to him: "It was given the shape of an irregular quadrangle similar to a half-oval and varied in mass. Depending on the configuration of the grounds, it had two or more storeys. As a rule, all the lower ones were equipped with shooting holes. Built of stone and brick, the walls, especially on the south-eastern side, were reinforced with massive buttresses [...] The building was also equipped with three differently shaped massive towers. [...]". Due to its location, the castle had the shape of an elongated triangle with strong walls and corner towers projecting beyond the line of the walls. The total area of the castle was 0.75 hectares and its highest points reached 17 metres. The thickness of the walls was 4 metres. The courtyard was 130 metres long and up to 85 metres wide on the western side. It was there, by the eastern part of the southern wing, that the Sieniawski family built a relatively small palace. The tops of its towers and walls were decorated with projections and rosettes - decorative elements alluding to Renaissance art. The building itself housed a Catholic chapel. Outbuildings, barracks and stables were built near the palace.

The castle defended itself against the Tatars in 1566, and against the Turkish-Cossack army in 1666. But in 1672 the Turks captured the fortress at Miedzyborz. A detachment of border servants was accommodated there. They converted the church into a mosque, placing a minaret in the middle of the gabled roof. In 1699, the village, including all of Podolia, was returned to Poland.

In 1731, Maria Zofia (1698-1771), daughter of the last male representative of the Sieniawski family, married August Aleksander Czartoryski (1697-1782), Voivode of Ruthenia. Her dowry included the keys of Międzybork and Starosieniawski, as well as Puławy and Wilanów.

As Dr Antoni Rolle wrote, at the end of the 18th century Międzybórz "belonged to the most pleasant towns in Podolia". It was the administrative capital of the Międzybórz key, where the Familia ruled over 42 villages and 12,000 male souls obliged to do serfdom (in 1812. The Czartoryskis owned 25 towns and about 450 villages; their capital amounted to 50 million zlotys). At the head of the key was the governor. He was subordinated to the administrators of the manors, whose task was to organise and control production. It must be said that the Czartoryskis' farm was well maintained and yielded a high income. Pigs were reared and wheat was exported to Western Europe. In different years the Czartoryskis owned between 16,000 and 25,000 beehives. Large revenues were generated by distilleries. In every village there were inns, which the owners leased.

The Broken Heart of Tadeusz Kościuszko
The next owners of Międzyborze and the key were Adam Kazimierz and his wife Izabela née Fleming. Their son was Adam Jerzy, superintendent of the Vilnius district and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia. The couple's main residence was Puławy, but they often came to Międzyborze, where they led a lively social life.

In the autumn of 1790, Tadeusz Kościuszko, then commander of a division of 14,000 soldiers, had his quarters at the castle. The general was a welcome guest of the hosts, who invited local notables. One of these was Maciej Żurowski, who belonged 'to the gentry of the mediocre state' and owned 2 villages in Podolia. He later acquired several more rural settlements by inheritance. He was accompanied by his 18-year-old daughter Tekla, called Teklunia, "shy, eager for knowledge [...] a little exalted, dreaming of knights [...] face full of sweetness, regular and beautiful features". The forty-four-year-old general fell in love with Miss Żurowska, who reciprocated his affection. The depth of the general's feelings is evidenced by his letters to Tekluni: 'And I am trembling all over, but not from cold, but from inner anxiety. There is confusion throughout my mind, there is bitterness in my heart, and I feel the fever tearing me from within. Rest your head in the comfort of the pillows, cover yourself with your soul, rest in peace and open your heart to my kisses. Give me your lips, though carefully, I will not insult you with forced kisses. I give you to the Providence that is for the good of us all. I kiss you once more. I leave you, but my thoughts are always with you'. In another letter, Kościuszko asked his beloved: "Send me one bead from your neck".

The general asked Żurowski for his daughter's hand in marriage, but was rebuffed. The official reason for the refusal was the large age difference, although at the time marriages between men of age and young girls were the order of the day. In fact, Żurowski feared that the unmarried Kościuszko was a dowry hunter (at the time, the general owned one village, and the US government was to pay him - according to contemporary estimates - $180,000). In the spring of 1791, Kościuszko left Międzyborze. Before doing so, he wrote a letter to Tekluni: 'You enliven my heart, which was to be the sweetness of my whole life [...] I incline my head to kiss your feet, with a permanent attachment forever [...] Your image, however, will always be in my heart; wherever I turn, your shadow will always follow me'. The girl soon married a man chosen by her father, and was reportedly happy with him. When Kosciuszko's name was on everyone's lips in 1794, Żurowski was often asked if he regretted his refusal. Tekla's father replied that national heroes do not always make good husbands.

1792-1831 - the turbulent years
During the Polish-Russian War of 1792-1794, the Tsar's army was stationed at the estate. Izabela Czartoryska left a description of the devastation wrought by the soldiers: 'My spreading trees, blossoming bushes, fragrant flowers soothed the painful appearance of the plundered and ruined palace. Inside the palace, broken furniture was piled up. Heads, arms, legs of marble sculptures, remnants of porcelain, crystal, mosaics, mirrors, a broken harpsichord, frayed books, torn paintings lay in a pile."

In 1795, after the defeat of the Kościuszko Uprising, the Czartoryskis were threatened with confiscation of their property for supporting the uprising. Catherine II imposed a sequestration on the estates located in the Russian partition. In order to save the family estates, Izabella and Adam Casimir sent their sons Adam and Konstantin to St Petersburg, who took an oath of allegiance to the empress and entered Russian service. Catherine II forgave the Czartoryskis and removed the sequester. In turn, Adam befriended Alexander, the monarch's grandson and future Alexander I. After a few years, it was the young emperor who appointed the Pole as Russia's foreign minister.

Although Prince Adam was preoccupied with his work in St Petersburg, he did not forget his Podolia estates, especially as his father had given him Międzybórz at the end of the 18th century. It was at the castle that the wedding of Adam George and Anna Zofia Zapieha took place. In 1822, the couple's eldest son Vytautas, a future émigré politician, was born there. The prince - at that time superintendent of the Vilnius Scientific District - allocated part of the fortress buildings for a four-classroom district school, which was attended by the children of merchants, craftsmen and other residents of the Latichow and Ploskirov districts. He also financed its activities to a considerable extent, as the tuition fee was moderate. The school was inaugurated on 10 October 1819 in front of a large gathering of noblemen. Mathematics, physics, geography, history, religion and literature, among other subjects, were taught there. It housed a boarding school for pupils. Prince Adam had far-reaching plans for the institution, planning to turn it into an agricultural school over time. But in 1831, the Russian government confiscated all the Czartoryski estates for Prince Adam's participation in the uprising. The family went into exile.

The new authorities handed over the fortress in Międzyborze to the Russian army. The military renovated the castle, adding romantic elements to it. They painted it white, so that the fortress was jokingly called the "white swan"

After 1917
After seizing power, the Bolsheviks did not take care of the castle in Miedzyborz. Among other things, a dairy plant was placed there, which led to considerable damage. The building was also destroyed by local people, for example by stealing bricks as building material. It was not until the 1960s that the building began to be secured. Unfortunately, these steps proved insufficient and in 2014 one of its walls collapsed. Between 2015 and 2018, the castle was extensively renovated. Excursions, workshops, scientific and sightseeing meetings are now held there.