By Tamara Pimenova
The Mir Castle Complex is enjoying great interest among tourists, being visited by over 185,000 people last year. Over 3,000 excursions were organised in the Castle, although individual visitors primarily prevailed. Tatiana Dashkovskaya, the Academic Secretary of the National Art Museum of Belarus, of which the Mir Castle is a branch, notes that the inflow of tourists especially increased after the Castle Complex opened on December 16th, 2010. In total, over 7,000 people explored the lives of the Ilinichs, Radziwills, Wittgensteins and Svyatopolk-Mirskies, who owned Mir Castle at various times. Remarkably, the busiest time was observed during the New Year and Christmas celebrations.
The Mir Castle Complex should become even more popular among Belarusian and foreign tourists, with around 400-450 thousand tourists expected this year. It occupies 26 hectares, featuring an Italian Renaissance garden and an English park and pond, alongside Mir Castle itself and its crypts. It is a unique architectural treasure, possessing elements of European Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque styles — in its construction and interior decoration. In 2000, Mir Castle was registered onto UNESCO’s World Cultural Heritage List.
