On the Styr River, north-east of Lutsk , lies a small, now Ukrainian town, Czartorysk . It is one of the oldest settlements in Volhynia, and its history dates back to the early Middle Ages and is inextricably intertwined with the history of Poland and the Czartoryski family, who made this village their ancestral nest.

Sources mention that already in the 11th century the village was a significant defensive point on the Russo-Polish border. In later centuries, it belonged to the Leszczyński, Wiśniowiecki and Radziwiłł families until it passed to the Giedyminowicz family in the 14th century. It was their descendants who adopted the surname Czartoryski, after their hometown on the Styr river.

On a hill near the river, the mighty walls of the castle once stood as the centre of this residence. Although, with time, the building fell into ruins, it remained a symbol of the former power of the princes who co-created the history of the Republic. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Czartoryski held an important place among the Volhynian castles. It was from here that representatives of the family came forth who went down in Polish history as patrons of culture, reformers and patriots. Their name even grew into the history of the country.

Preserved in the centre of the town is the Baroque Dominican church founded by Andrzej Leszczyński in 1648. The temple, once a place of prayer and rest for the local landlords, was turned into an Orthodox church by the Tsarist authorities after the November Uprising. Beneath its walls lie the remains of the former Czartoryski owners. Today the site is dilapidated, but it can still serve as a reminder of the Polish presence in these lands.

The history of Czartorysk is also marked by a heroic battle of the legionaries in 1915. As part of the offensive on the River Styra, which lasted from June to September, units of the Polish Legions' First Brigade fought against Russian troops in the area of Kostiuchnówka , Maniewicz and Czartoryska . Among the marshes and forests of Volhynia, the Poles put up fierce resistance to the overwhelming enemy forces. The fighting was extremely bloody. Buildings disappeared from the face of the earth, and hundreds of soldiers died in defence of a homeland that did not yet exist. Numerous legion cemeteries, with birch crosses and Polish inscriptions, were established in the fields between Czartoryski and Rafałówka. One of them, known as the 'Polish Hill', became a memorial to Piłsudski's fallen young soldiers.

Czartorysk is thus not only a geographical point on the map of Volhynia, but also a monument to Polish history and a place where the history of a famous family, religion and the fight for freedom intersect.