Копильський замок, Medieval castle in Kapyĺ, Belarus
Kopyl Castle was a wooden fortress that stood from the 14th to the 18th century on a glacial moraine hill rising 10–13 m above the Kamianka river floodplain. Its flat oval platform measures 45 by 100 m and is enclosed by earthen ramparts up to 3 m high, built of sand and clay, with burnt remains of wooden walls in the fill. A moat 20 m wide and up to 3 m deep, filled with river water via a dam in times of danger, protected the site.
Kopyl Castle grew out of the detinets of the chronicled town of Kopyl, which itself occupied the site of an early Iron Age hillfort; it existed from the 14th to the 18th century. In the early 16th century Kopyl was counted among the "most important princely castles with a town". It was the residence of the Olelkovich and Radziwill families, who stayed there only occasionally; their namestnik lived there permanently. Archaeological excavations in 1996–1999 studied about 500 square metres of the site.
The castle was the seat of the Olelkovich and Radziwill princely families, who owned Kopyl but stayed there only occasionally; a governor lived on the site permanently. The town's name is tied to the castle hill above the river. Visitors see the earthen ramparts, up to 3 m high, where burnt remains of the wooden walls lie in the fill.
The castle site is an earthen hill with steep slopes, a flat oval platform about 45 by 100 m, and ramparts up to 3 m high; no walls or towers stand. The ground is uneven, so wear sturdy shoes. The hill rises 10–13 m above the river floodplain, and the moat, 20 m wide and up to 3 m deep, is still visible in the terrain.
The castle was entirely built of wood, and no stone towers ever stood here; only the earthen ramparts, up to 3 m high and made of sand and clay, survive, with burnt remains of the wooden walls buried inside them. The moat, 20 m wide and up to 3 m deep, could be flooded from the river through a dam.
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