Medininkų pilies nykimo, gelbėjimo - konservavimo ir gaivinimo - raida

ENConstructed during the 13th and 14th centuries, Medininkai Castle is Lithuania’s oldest stone and brick masonry castle of the enclosure type, with defensive walls and fragments of towers. During World War I, and after the Second World War, the castle walls, which measure more than 500 m long, were partially destroyed, and the courtyard (1.8 ha) served the needs of a local collective farm. In 1954, the Scientific Restoration Workshop (later renamed the Institute of Conservation and Restoration of Monuments or PRI) received orders from the Architectural Monument Protection Inspectorate to prepare a conservation project for the castle, carrying out works under the direction of architect S. Lasavickas. Architect-restorer S. Lasavickas revealed the plan of the castle’s structure, the stages of its construction and directed the main conservation works on the castle’s walls and towers between 1959 and 1962. Later work to preserve the defensive walls was carried out intermittently. In 1990, the Monument Management Department and the Lithuanian Culture Foundation, with active participation from the American Society of Lithuanian Engineers and Architects, agreed to bring the castle back to life. The PRI assigned the architect and restorer S. Mikulionis to take care of the project.In 1993, the PRI held an internal competition for the reconstruction concept of the castle s main tower. J. Glemža and M. Mikulionytė were announced as winners. The same year, work began on the reconstruction of the castles tower. This continued until 1999, during which time preservation work was also carried out on the castle s defensive walls. In 2003, the castle was taken over by the Trakai History Museum (director: V. Poviliūnas). In 2009, the museum succeeded in obtaining finances from EU structural assistance funds for the restoration of the Medininkai castle, and work began. Between 2009 and 2012, under head architect and restorer R. Žilinskas, the main tower of the castle was reconstructed and the museum’s permanent exhibition installed inside it; the preservation and partial restoration of the defensive walls was completed, a centre for visitors was built in the castle’s courtyard, and the castle opened to the public.