ONE DAY BIKE TOUR FROM LVIV TO THE CASTLES

2018-12-04 12:58:08

With the renovation of old destroyed bumpy roads, Ukraine becomes more and more suitable land for cycling. Among the top attractions here are, of course, charming wild nature, rural landscapes and traditional villages with their authentic inhabitants. But one thing that travel guides often forget to mention is the impressive castles of Lviv region. These precious heritage forms an arc similar to a horseshoe on the map, therefore they were given a poetic name "Golden horseshoe". The tourist route which unites all 5 castles was created to popularize the castles’ heritage of Galicia. The length of the route is 238 km from Lviv. The whole itinerary is feasible in one day only by car. So we decided to split it in few parts to enjoy it by bicycle. Here we describe the trip to the nearest two castles in Stare Selo (Ukr. Old village) and Svirzh.


To save time and to get a local experience we decided to take a suburban diesel train Lviv - Khodorov to our first destination. This kind of train is rather slow and has stops literally every 5 minutes, but it allows its passengers to appreciate the sceneries through the window with no rush.


As the old train is leaving Lviv, the multistoried buildings are graduately being substituted with two and one storied country houses and the streets, heavily loaded with traffic, change into narrow dirt roads. We pass across several long villages and myriads of green fields till we eventually reach our first aim. The fortress in Stare selo (built in 1584-1589) is well seen from the train.

 

Despite the abandoned state, the fortress still impresses with its scale and grandeur. Unfortunately, it stands aside from the tourist routes and only passengers of trains passing by, enthusiastically admire its beauty and occasionally it is visited by single tourists. Everything that has survived from the numerous attacks in the past ages are its massive two meters wide and about fifteen meters tall walls, reinforced with buttresses, and three towers. This fortress is one of the largest in Ukraine. For a long time the castle served as an arsenal, a distillery, a warehouse and a brewery.

You can ride through the territory of the castle on a bicycle or simply walk. Everything is Impressive here!


Our next destination is Svirzh village. It is 25 km away from Stare selo. The distance does not seem far on a bright sunny day, as you can relax on multiple long downhills and have a real workout on challenging uphills. In spring you have an opportunity to inhale the flavors of blooming trees in the peasants’ gardens and observe storks, busy on their nests.

Svirzh castle was luckier than the previous one, it was renovated and preserved. This is a movie star castle. It has appeared several times in the well-known soviet film “D'Artagnan and three musketeers “.

The first written data on Svirzh dates back to 1427, when it was visited by the Polish king Volodyslav II. In those days, Svirzh had a status of a city. The castle stands on the top of a high scenic hill surrounded by ponds on three sides. The peculiarity of Renaissance details and ornaments makes the castle one of the most interesting monuments of defense construction.

Near the castle there is a well-preserved church founded in the 15th century.

Currently, the state of the castle is not the best. Only external walls have been preserved invariable. The layout of the castle rooms has been changed, and its premises have been rebuilt. In the courtyard there is a large well, from which water was taken in case of a siege.

At the castle park you can rest and have a picnic with the snacks bought in one of the local stores.

Our journey continues ... Let's return to the main road to Lviv. On the way back the former hills have become ascents, and ascents are downhills.

This bicycle trip is one of the possibilities to combine active leisure with historic and cultural excursion. It gives us a chance to travel in time to the days of medieval glory of our ancestors. We definitely become more knowledgeable and happier in such tours with a good company.

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