Editing Mir Castle Complex (section)

==History==
[[File:MIR CASTLE COURTYARD - BELARUS.jpg|thumb|left|View from the courtyard]]
Duke {{ill|Juryj Ivanavič Illinič|be|Юрый Іванавіч Ільініч|pl|Jerzy Iwanowicz Ilinicz}} began construction of the [[castle]] near the village of Mir after the turn of the 16th century in the [[Belarusian Gothic]] style. Five towers surrounded the courtyard of the citadel, the walls of which formed a square of {{convert|75|m|ft}} on each side. In 1568, when the Ilyinich dynasty died out, the Mir Castle passed into the hands of [[Mikołaj Krzysztof "the Orphan" Radziwiłł|Mikalaj Kryštafor "the Orphan" Radziwil]], who refitted it with a two-winged, three-story stately residence along the eastern and northern inner walls of the castle. Plastered facades were decorated with limestone portals, plates, balconies and porches in the [[Renaissance style]].

[[Image:Mirski zamak. Мірскі замак (N. Orda, 1880).jpg|thumb|300px|right|Drawing by [[Napoleon Orda]], 1876]]
In 1817, after the castle had been abandoned for nearly a century and had suffered severe damage in the [[Battle of Mir (1812)]], owner [[Dominik Hieronim Radziwiłł|Daminik Hieranim Radziwil]] died of battle injuries and the castle passed to his daughter Stefania, who married [[Ludwig zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg]].  Later the castle became a possession of their daughter Maria, who married Prince [[Chlodwig, Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst|Chlodwig Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst]].

Their son, [[Maurice Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst]], sold the castle to [[Nikolai Svyatopolk-Mirsky|Mikalaj Sviatapolk-Mirski]], of the [[Bialynia Coat of Arms|Bialynia]] clan, in 1895. Mikalaj's son [[Michail Sviatapolk-Mirski|Michail]] began to rebuild the castle according to the plans of architect [[Teodor Bursche]]. The [[Svyatopolk-Mirsky|Sviatapolk-Mirski]] family owned the castle until 1939, when the [[Soviet Union]] occupied [[Western Belorussia|Western Belarus]].

When German forces [[Operation Barbarossa|invaded the Soviet Union in 1941]], they occupied the castle and converted it to a ghetto for the local Jewish population, prior to their murders. Between 1944 and 1956, the castle was used as a housing facility, resulting in damage to the castle's interior.

In December 2000, the Mir Castle was listed by [[UNESCO]] as a [[World Heritage Site]].<ref>{{cite web |url = http://landofancestors.com/travel/statistics/resources/culture-and-arts/287-landmarks-historic-and-cultural-and-natural-sites-of-the-republic-of-belarus-on-the-unesco-world-heritage-list.html |title = Landmarks, historic and cultural, and natural sites of the Republic of Belarus on the UNESCO World Heritage List |publisher = National Statistical Committee of the Republic of Belarus |year = 2011 |website = Land of Ancestors |accessdate = 12 October 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160610080452/http://landofancestors.com/travel/statistics/resources/culture-and-arts/287-landmarks-historic-and-cultural-and-natural-sites-of-the-republic-of-belarus-on-the-unesco-world-heritage-list.html |archive-date = 10 June 2016 |url-status = dead }}</ref>