The Zhovkva Castle occupies the principal square of the town of Zhovkva

Zhovkva

Zhovkva is a city in the Lviv Oblast of western Ukraine, north of Lviv. It is the administrative center of the Zhovkivskyi Raion . The current estimated population is 13,500.-History:...

 in Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

. It was founded by Stanislaw Zolkiewski

Stanislaw Zólkiewski

Stanisław Żółkiewski was a nobleman of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, magnate and military commander who took part in many campaigns both in the Commonwealth and on its southern and eastern border...

 as his fortified residence. Construction began in 1594 and was mostly completed in 1606.

The castle had a typically Serlian

Sebastiano Serlio

Sebastiano Serlio was an Italian Mannerist architect, who was part of the Italian team building the Palace of Fontainebleau...

 entrance arch

Arch

An arch is a structure that spans a space and supports a load. Arches appeared as early as the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamian brick architecture and their systematic use started with the Ancient Romans who were the first to apply the technique to a wide range of structures.-Technical aspects:The...

 and was encircled by moat

Moat

A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, other building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices...

s (up to 17 meters in width). One wing of the building accommodated the arsenal

Arsenal

An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, issued to authorized users, or any combination of those...

 and stables; another was immediately contiguous to the city wall. In 1606, a garden was laid out next to the hetman

Hetman

Hetman was the title of the second-highest military commander in 15th- to 18th-century Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which together, from 1569 to 1795, comprised the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, or Rzeczpospolita....

's residence. It contained a menagerie

Menagerie

A menagerie is/was a form of keeping common and exotic animals in captivity that preceded the modern zoological garden. The term was first used in seventeenth century France in reference to the management of household or domestic stock. Later, it came to be used primarily in reference to...

 with wisent

Wisent

The wisent , Bison bonasus, also known as the European bison or European wood bison, is a species of Eurasian bison. It is the heaviest surviving land animal in Europe; a typical wisent is about long, not counting a tail of long, and tall. Weight typically can range from , with an occasional big...

s, deer

Deer

Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...

s, and chamois

Chamois

The chamois, Rupicapra rupicapra, is a goat-antelope species native to mountains in Europe, including the Carpathian Mountains of Romania, the European Alps, the Tatra Mountains, the Balkans, parts of Turkey, and the Caucasus. The chamois has also been introduced to the South Island of New Zealand...

. The palatine chapel

Chapel

A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...

 was consecrated in 1640.

The golden age of the Zolkiew Castle was the late 17th century when it passed through inheritance to Jakub Sobieski

Jakub Sobieski

Jakub Sobieski was a Polish-Lithuanian noble, parliamentarian, diarist, political activist, military leader and father of King Jan III Sobieski. Son of castellan and voivode Marek Sobieski and Jadwiga Snopkowska.- Life :...

 and then to his son John III, a native of Zhovkva. It was there that the king celebrated his victory

Battle of Vienna

The Battle of Vienna took place on 11 and 12 September 1683 after Vienna had been besieged by the Ottoman Empire for two months...

 under the walls of Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

. In the 18th century the castle's facade was decorated with the statues of its owners from the Zolkiewski, Danilewicz, Sobieski

Sobieski family

Sobieski family of Janina coat of arms, also known as House of Sobieski due to their royalty connections, were a notable family of Polish nobility. According to the family's legend, disproved by modern historians, it traced its lineage to Polish duke, Leszek II the Black...

, and Radziwill

Radziwill

The Radziwiłł family is an noble family of Lithuanian origin. The descendants of Kristinas Astikas, a close associate of the 14th century Lithuanian ruler Vytautas, were highly prominent for centuries, first in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, later in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the...

 families.

After the partition of Poland the castle fell into disuse and was auctioned off. During the 19th century the chapel and some other structures were dismantled or rebuilt to accommodate a local school. The castle sustained further damage during the First World War. Some restoration was undertaken just before the Second World War, but much more was required following the end of hostilities.