The facade
Classical columns.
Mike1979 Russia — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Tess Mattew — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Mike1979 Russia — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Mike1979 Russia — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Tess Mattew — CC BY-SA 4.0
The New Castle is a royal palace in Grodno in western Belarus, built for the Polish kings Augustus III and Stanisław August Poniatowski on the high bank of the Neman river, 116 metres above sea level and about 247 km west of Minsk in a straight line. The famous Grodno Sejm met here in 1793. The palace was built a short distance from Grodno's Old Castle, and the two are joined by an arched bridge about three hundred years old. It was designed by the architect Carl Friedrich Pöppelmann, built between 1734 and 1751 under several Saxon architects and completed under Giuseppe de Sacco in 1789; it remained King Stanisław August's home until 1797. Today it houses the Grodno State Historical and Archaeological Museum. The long white palace has a classical columned front and two wings, topped by a slender spire, with a wide forecourt before it. From the edge of the bluff the view opens over the Neman and the Old Castle opposite. Visitors admire the facade, go into the museum to see its collections, then cross the bridge to the nearby Old Castle and look out over the river. The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to Belarus, so read the current advice before any planning.
Classical columns.
To the Old Castle.
Over the river.
Central Grodno, Belarus
One to two hours.
The Old Castle.
