Belarus · Partial ruin
Kreva Castle
Kreva Castle is the ruined medieval fortified residence in the village of Kreva that belonged to rulers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Important events of the late 14th century, including the imprisonment of Kęstutis and the signing of the Union of Krewo, took place here. The site survives as fragmentary red-brick and fieldstone walls and tower remains on a low meadow in Belarus.
Its prime
1385
Today
Partial ruin
As it stood in 1385
The shape it held in its prime.
A long curtain wall of red brick sits on a rough fieldstone plinth, its length interrupted by tall, mostly rectangular brick tower bodies; the surviving wall line is capped in places by low pitched roofs over service ranges. In prime the silhouette would be dominated by the continuous red-brick curtain and regularly spaced towers rising above crenellated parapets and timber hoardings, set on a flat grassy plain beside the village.
Its story
The story of Kreva Castle.
Kreva Castle was a major fortified residence of the rulers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Gediminas and Algirdas. During the Lithuanian Civil War of 1381–1384, Algirdas's son Jogaila arrested his uncle Kęstutis and cousin Vytautas and imprisoned them here in 1382; a week later Kęstutis was found dead — whether by natural causes or murder is still debated — while Vytautas escaped and fled to the Teutonic Order.
Three years later the Union of Krewo, the first step towards the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, was signed in the castle. Sacked by the Crimean Tatars in the early 16th century, it stood unoccupied for a long time, and by the 19th century much of the walls had crumbled away.
The First World War dealt the decaying structure its final blow, for the castle stood on the front line between the Russian and German armies. The ruins were partially conserved in the 19th and 20th centuries — notably by Poland in 1929 — but the fragmentary red-brick and fieldstone walls have been decaying ever since.
Step inside
5 places to explore in 1385.
The record describes 5 distinct spots at Kreva Castle — including 3 interiors: base of a surviving tower (exterior and interior view), inner bailey / enclosed courtyard, wall-walk and battlements. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and walk through every one — more scenes means more photos, more angles and more rooms of the immersive experience.
Create History
Recreate Kreva Castle with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1385 — a photoreal walk that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
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