Rozhniativ Castle

History

In the southwestern part of Rozhniativ, on a hill now occupied by the district police department, stands a palace-type building. Nearby, steep slopes show traces of a former large reservoir that served as natural defense, along with remnants of moats. The researcher Kamil Baranski noted that in the 15th century, a castle with three towers, water-filled moats, ramparts, and cellars existed there. Orest Matsiuk described the castle as oriented north-south, with ramparts on the northeastern sides and a fragment of a bastion on the northern side. Alfred Wajda wrote that between Kalush and Dolyna lay the settlement of Stare Selo with a defensive castle once besieged by Tatar detachments. The castle's initiator and founder remain unknown. In autumn 1648, the Polish nobility's citadel was captured by the oppressed Ukrainian local population. A lawsuit filed by Samuel Poniatowski in March 1649 detailed that local Ukrainians, gathering three or four thousand people, first plundered Poniatowski's courtyard in Svarychiv, then went to Rozhniativ Castle, where the nobility had stored livestock and goods. The nobility fled hastily on foot, leaving all property behind. The Ukrainians broke into the castle, plundered it, and pursued the fugitives into the mountains, killing, torturing, and robbing many nobles; only a few escaped. The castle was not destroyed during the raid, as the Ukrainian population took it without resistance. Władysław Łoziński also wrote about this event.