Metravel city quest
City Halshany: free walking route “Golshany quest: the Black Monk and the White Lady” along the sights. 8 points. Approximately 1 h 50 min. Quests and legends
Belarus has plenty of old castles and legends, but only one town has two ghosts at once — and they live at opposite ends of the same street.
Golshany was first mentioned in the 13th century — for three centuries the Princes of Golshany ruled here, one of the most distinguished families of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. This is the birthplace of Sophia of Golshany — the very woman who became the wife of King Jagiełło and the foremother of the Jagiellonian dynasty, which ruled Poland and Lithuania for almost two centuries. Later Golshany passed to the Sapiehas as a dowry, and Paweł Stefan Sapieha, Vice-Chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, built a stone castle here that was considered one of the finest in the Duchy, and after it a church with a Franciscan monastery.
Both legends are tied to these two building projects. In the castle wall, they say, a young man named Gremislav was walled up — he used to dress in a monk’s habit to meet Princess Anna-Gordislava of Golshany in secret, and paid for his love with his life. Ever since, the Black Monk has wandered the ruins. And when the monastery was being built in 1618, one of the walls kept sinking — and the builders, afraid of Sapieha’s wrath, resorted to a terrible sacrifice: they walled a young woman into the wall. She is called the White Lady. In the 20th century Vladimir Korotkevich wove these tales into his novel “The Black Castle of Olshany” — and Golshany became, perhaps, the most mystical address in the country.
Today you will walk the Black Monk’s path — from the castle ruins along old Zamkovaya Street through the heart of the town to the monastery of the White Lady, and you will finish at the little Golshanka River, which gave its name to both the town and the princely family. The route is on foot, about two kilometers, with no backtracking.
We begin at the ruins of the Sapiehas’ castle on the southeastern edge of the town. Walk up to the walls — and listen to the silence.
The route points in order — what these places are and why they are interesting. Tasks and answers stay inside the quest.
Before you lies what remains of the residence that was called one of the finest castles of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Golshany passed to the Sapiehas as early as 1525 — as the dowry of Princess Helena of Golshany, the last of her line.
One tower of the castle stands under a roof again: the North Tower has been restored, and on 6 May 2021 a museum opened in it — a branch of the F. K. Bogushevich Oshmyany Museum of Local Lore.
Opening hours: Tue–Sun 10:00–19:00, Monday closed. · Ticket: Adult — 4 BYN, child — 3 BYN.
From the castle follow Zamkovaya Street toward the center of the town — a couple of hundred meters on, a small chapel of 1897 will appear by the road. It stands on the road linking the castle with the Franciscan monastery — a wayside sign of faith that showed travelers the way to church.
Continue along Zamkovaya Street towards the centre. Ahead you will see the Orthodox Church of St George.
From the church, walk a little further towards the junction of the main streets. You are in the former heart of trading Golshany.
Walk a little further along the street from the trading rows towards the Catholic church. A large pinkish stone with a bronze bas-relief stands by the road.
From the memorial, turn towards the white church behind the fence: St John the Baptist Church, Paweł Stefan Sapieha's second great building project. It was founded in 1618 on the foundations of a former Calvinist meeting house.
From the monastery go down to Trabskaya Street, to the little river — here on the bank stands an old water mill from the late 19th or early 20th century.
This route is part of Metravel city quests. Below are the other quests in this city and cities with quests nearby.