Глуская бастыённая фартэцыя

ENThe castle of Hlusk founded before 1522 is situated on the upper ground over the floodplain of the Pcič. Originally its fortifications included timber-and-earth constructions with wooden towers. During the War with Moscow of 1654-1667, the castle was captured by the enemy and burned. In 1670s, it was reconstructed and changed into a fortress with five bastions which appeared to be quite an original for the Grand Duchy of Lithuania defensive complex. Nowadays, it represented by the remnants of the rampart, bastions, and underground parts of two towers. The site is comparatively well preserved and described in some eighteenth century written sources. Nevertheless it hasn't been mentioned frequently in academic works till the late 1990s. In 1996-2008 regular and complex study of the site was carried out. Archaeological excavations, search for new written sources and historical plans of the castle gave an opportunity not only to widen but also reconsider our knowledge of the castle of Hlusk. On the basis of the material obtained, we managed to date the periods of its fortification development, reconstruct both general scheme of the defensive complex and the elements it included: rampart, bastions, fosse, towers, secret passage, and drawbridge. The comparative study of the site has led to the conclusion that the bastion fortress of Hlusk was designed and constructed according to the principles of the old-Holland system of fortification which was extremely spread in the seventeenth century Europe.