Former place of Dubingiai Castle, called the Hill of the Castle (Dubingiai bridge)
History
The Hill of the Castle can be found in the exceptionally beautiful peninsula of Asveja Lake, where a very important Dubingiai Castle used to stand some time ago in the past. You will be able to experience the beauty of these surroundings when driving towards the former place of the castle. The Asveja Lake stretching for around 30 kilometres is exceptional by its deeply carved shores, framed by hills covered in forests, which are reflected in the clear water of the lake. After climbing up the Hill of the Castle, the beauty of Asveja will take your breath away, so you will be able to enjoy and admire the views, which will cause shivering down your spine.
The history of this hill is also very important. During the middle ages, this was not a peninsula as it is now, but an island. As it is speculated, at least from the first part of the 14th century, there was a wooden castle standing in this island, which was protecting Vilnius from the attacks of the Livonian Order from the North. In the 15th century, the Great Duke Vytautas himself made sure that a new masonry Dubingiai Castle would be built. Later, it went to one of the most famous noble families of Lithuania – Radvilos. In 1547–1548, the famous Barbora Radvilaitė had lived in this castle for five months. During the reign of Radvilos, close to the palace, on the nearby hill, there was a church of the Evangelical Reformers. The cellars of this castle, where Radvilos were buried, are now discovered and excavated, so one can look around them. The cellars are conserved from the environmental exposure, by constructing a special building above them.
From the times of Vytautas, the palace which was rebuilt several times, had several floors with a high tower and cellars. The beer and food supplies were kept in one of them and another one was used as a treasury. Various interesting and rare archaeological findings were discovered here: bone chess piece from the reign of Vytautas and the 17th century glass cup without a leg. The palace was similar to other buildings belonging to Radvilos at those times, which were situated in Nesvyžius, Vilnius and a little bit later in Kėdainiai.
In around the 18th century, the former place of the castle was disintegrated and abandoned, however, in 1872, the ruins on the hill were still there and were depicted by a painter Napoleon Orda in his painting.
One of the roads, leading to the Hill of the Castle is an engineering monument constructed over the lake – a wooden Dubingiai bridge built in 1934 by the order of the president at the time, Antanas Smetona.