Annette said I was the tour guide to Olesky Castle, so here goes. We hopped on the bus in Lviv with a big group of Annette's fellow ELFs and drove through the countryside of Western Ukraine. Stephanie, the Senior ELF from Prishtina, Kosovo, said it looked a lot like her home in Ohio in winter.
A view of a snowy village from the bus.
We were welcomed at the castle by this crew, anxious for handouts from the new arrivals.
The hilltop castle dates from at least the early 14th century. It was the birthplace of the future King of Poland, Jan III Sobieski, who lead an army of Poles and other Christians that defeated the Turks near Vienna in 1683, effectively stopping the advance of the Ottoman Empire into Western Europe. The castle is now part of the Lviv Art Museum.
This is a huge painting of the Battle of Vienna painted in 1692 by Martino Altamonte. King Jan III Sobieski is depicted on the horse in the center foreground. The painting is at least 30' by 20' and all of it could not be displayed until recently, when they raised the ceiling in one of the rooms.
A view of the surrounding countryside through the bars of a window in the castle.
Annette ready to get into the warm bus for the ride back to Lviv.
Here is the sign with more information on the history of the castle, which probably explains it better than I can.
Our last morning in Lviv was sunny with bright blue skies!
Gotta have a food shot. Why is she smiling??
Awwww cute doggies!!! The museum looks pretty cool.
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