Bykhov castle.

If you look at the coat of arms of the modern city of Bykhov, you will see two cannons on it. And it's not accidental at all. After all, in the 16th - 18th centuries, one of the strongest castles in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania existed in Bykhov. Initially, the castle was built by the famous Khodkevich magnates in Belarus and in the principality. Their most famous representative, hetman Jan Karal Khodkevich, in 1590 received the privilege to build castle fortifications, and by 1619 the construction of the castle was almost finished. The castle was built on the high bank of the Dnieper - in plan 77 by 100 meters. On one side, the castle was protected by the river, and on the other 3 sides, the city was located directly, and a wide defensive moat of more than 20 meters was dug there. Finally, the construction of the castle was completed already under the new owners, the tycoons Sapegs. The castle was surrounded by earthen ramparts with bastions, there was an entrance tower-gate. And on the territory of the castle itself there was a foundry, or a cannon, where cannons and shells with grenades were cast. In 1648, the castle could not be taken by the Cossack army of F. Harkusha. And during the war between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Muscovite Empire in the middle of the 17th century, the castle withstood several sieges, and it was here that in 1655 the Cossack hetman Ivan Zalatorenko was killed, who was sent to help the Muscovite Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich by his ally Bogdan Khmelnytskyi. During the Northern War, the castle was looted and gradually fell into complete disrepair. During the Nazi occupation in 1941, the Nazis formed a ghetto on the territory of the castle. During the Soviet era, a local furniture factory worked in the brick building of the former castle. In recent years, archaeological excavations have been carried out. Two towers have been restored. The rest of the castle is in a state of disrepair.

In the 1560s and 1570s, the owner of Bykhov, Hetman of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Jan Karol Chodkiewicz, together with his father Hieronim Chodkiewicz, built a wooden and earthen castle. By the end of the century, wooden and earthen fortifications did not correspond to the realities of military affairs in Europe due to the intensive development of artillery. In 1590, the castle was seriously damaged during an attack by the Cossacks of Matiusha Fedorovich. This fact served as a reason for the construction of a stone castle.

By 1601, Jan Karol Chodkiewicz began building a stone residence in Bykhov, which gave impetus to the construction of a stone castle and palace complex. By 1611, the construction of bastion fortifications and castle walls was begun by Jan Karol Chodkiewicz's son-in-law, Jan Stanisław Sapieha. At that time, the castle already had a "dining hut" - a place for receiving and accommodating official delegations. The castle was finally completed only by 1637. Architects who had studied in Central, Southern and Northern Europe took part in the construction of the castle. The castle was an irregular rectangle, reaching 104 meters at its widest point and 76 meters at its narrowest. The castle was surrounded by moats 15 meters deep and up to 27 meters wide. The outer borders of the castle were protected by bastions with artillery batteries.

In 1659, during the siege of Bykhov by Moscow troops and Ukrainian Cossacks during the war between Russia and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Bykhov Castle suffered significant damage. Thus, the powder magazine in the castle was blown up and the northern castle tower with part of the northern castle building was destroyed. After the end of the hostilities, the castle complex was restored without the northern castle tower, but with an enlarged residential building. During the wars of the gentry groups (1696-1702) and the Northern War (1700-1721), Bykhov was also subjected to repeated sieges. The castle suffered its greatest damage during the sieges by the Russian army in 1702 and 1707.

With the entry of Bykhov into the Russian Empire in 1772, the castle's role as a representative and defensive facility ceased. The castle housed soldiers' barracks, a prison, and army warehouses.

In 1941, the Nazis organized a Jewish ghetto on the territory of Bykhov Castle, and later a hospital.

In the post-war period, the castle grounds housed a junior command school, warehouses, and a furniture factory. A private entrepreneur who leased production facilities on the castle grounds in the late 2000s was unable to save the monument from fire.

In 2013, within the framework of the state program "Culture of Belarus", work was carried out in the castle to improve the territory, preserve the castle and partially restore two towers. The palace complex is on the State List of Historical and Cultural Values of the Republic of Belarus.