Olesko Castle

Olesko is a small village in Lviv oblast, about an hour from the city itself. Driving the M06 west you will spot the castle a long time before you arrive, standing on its own hill above flat farmland with nothing else around it.

Olesko Castle

The building dates back to 1390 and sits on a hill 50 metres above the surrounding land, which is what makes it so visible from the road. Over the centuries it has belonged to Poland, Lithuania and Hungary, and it now belongs firmly to Ukraine.

Park near the old monastery at the bottom rather than trying to take the car any further up. The entrance fee was 90 UAH when we visited and covers both the grounds, which are extensive and full of sculpture, and the interior, which has been restored properly and hung with some very large paintings. It stands comparison with castles we have paid a great deal more to see in France and Denmark.

The catch is language. There is essentially no English anywhere, on the signage or among the staff, and the reserve's own website is Ukrainian only, so come with someone who can translate or accept that you are here for the building and the view rather than the history. The village has almost nothing else in it either, so this is a stop on a longer drive, not a destination on its own.

That is the argument for pairing it with Dubno Castle, an hour and a half back east on the same motorway, and for breaking the run out from the capital at Zhytomyr.