Zolochiv Castle
A bastion castle with a palace complex within the town.
The castle was commissioned by Jakub Sobieski, the king's father, and the inscription "ANNO DOMINI 1634" can still be read on the wall. It is a palazzo in fortezza: four corner bastions faced with stone, ramparts, and in the courtyard the Grand Palace; in 1674–1696 the castle was a royal residence of Jan III. The Chinese Palace — a rotunda with side wings in the chinoiserie style — was completed in 1728–1730. From the end of the 19th century until 1954 the complex served as a prison — Austrian, Polish, Soviet, German; in 1941 the NKVD shot 647 local residents here (other sources put the figure at about 750). In 1986 the castle was handed to the Lviv Art Gallery: the Museum of Oriental Art opened on 21 May 2004, and the restored Grand Palace with halls of archaeology and historicist interiors on 9 August 2009. On 14 June 2022 the blast wave of a missile strike blew out 24 windows of the gatehouse; the damage was repaired the same year.
Wednesday–Sunday 10:00–18:00, ticket office until 17:30; ticket 200 UAH (summer 2026). The handiest stop for lunch on the Golden Horseshoe route.