The text describes the ruins of Gediminas Castle in Lida, combined with a detailed description of the remains of this building. Further on, the history of the castle is recalled, among others connected with Władysław Jagiełło (Source: "Ziemia. Tygodnik Krajoznawczy Ilustrowany', Warsaw 1911, no. 46, pp. 4-6, after: Wielkopolska Biblioteka Cyfrowa).

A modernised reading of the text

Mansions, castles and palaces.

Today, the ruins of Gediminas castle in Lida are visible in the remains of the peripheral walls, which form a rectangle on the base of a small hill, rising above a marshy basin, which connects with the Lida river. This swamp is part of the moat that once surrounded the hill. The walls from the bottom to the top are made of fieldstone. On the outside, they were partly plastered and partly faced with red bricks, as can be seen in the attached photograph. The thickness of the walls, impressive even today with their enormity, is up to 2.5 metres.

A few decades ago, they were much higher and still shone with the remnants of square-shaped towers rising in the north-eastern and south-western coals. Today there is not a trace of these towers, and even the entire south-west coal has collapsed, opening up an extensive breach. At the top of the south wall, arched contour arch towers still survive, in three sizes, and lower down we see openings with pieces of the oak beams surviving in places, on which the cloisters were supported.

There was an entrance gate in the east wall, of which only a large, unshaped opening and a pedestrian gate remain, all almost buried in rubble. The gate was flanked by a tower, visible in the photograph on the right. This wall, as the front wall, had a beautiful ornament of arched, Romanesque frieze, which was made of red brick, beautifully reflecting the white plaster. The other walls did not have this decoration. Inside the rectangle of the perimeter walls, no traces of the building remain, as the entire square, measuring 85 metres in length and 78 metres in width, was levelled for military purposes years ago.

Generally speaking, it can be said that the final ruin of the Lida castle was caused more by people than by time destroying everything. And they contributed to it not only through ill-will, but even with the best intentions towards the ruins. Thus, the 'tidying up' inside was followed by the partial demolition of the walls, especially the northern and western ones, ordered by one of the 'ispractitioners', supposedly in the name of public safety. Lastly, through misunderstood zeal, the walls were underlaid and caved in, even including the arched doorframes found in the north wall on the interior, and all of this was poured over the top with cement. Whether this idea can be called a happy one - let the experts judge.

I don't think it should be preserved in this way. One could still forgive the fact that the walls were disfigured in this way, but the worst thing is that such a shell, while not preventing the penetration of moisture into the walls, prevents it from evaporating, thus speeding up the deterioration process. This is already established and nowhere do they preserve walls in this way. The history of Lida Castle is closely connected with the transitions experienced by the whole country. Thus, it had moments of its glory and then its decline. According to Stryjkowski, it was founded in 1323 by Gediminas, but never became a permanent residence of the rulers. In 1422, Ladislaus Jagiello with his young wife Sophia, Vytautas and his entire court stayed here for a while.

Later, Hadji Girej lived here before the Crimean Tatars appointed him Khan. Finally, Alexander Jagiellon, who was in Lida castle in 1506, was left with a fatal disease and had his last will and testament written here. The times of John Casimir had a devastating effect on Lida castle, and the castle was finally destroyed by the Swedes in the reign of Charles XII in 1710. Since then, the castle has not recovered from its decline. In conclusion, I must mention the two legendary pine trees which grow on the northern slope of the rubble heap near the castle's peripheral wall.

These are very old trees, although due to unfavourable growing conditions they are not tall and relatively not thick, as if squatting to the ground, with all branches leaning towards the south. Legend has it that they grew on the grave of Franciscans who were murdered by pagan Lithuanians. The people believe that if these trees were inflicted, blood would trickle from them instead of sap. It is understood that no one is trying to do this, and the legend is cemented in the minds of the people, which is what these pine trees do best, growing and spreading their crowns more and more over the walls.