Jeziaryšča

Jeziaryšča was associated with a timber-and-earth castle on a peninsula in Lake Jeziaryšča, near the later settlement of Mestechko. The lake and narrow land approach shaped its defences on the northern frontier of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Fourteenth- and fifteenth-century pottery recovered from the site links the stronghold with a wider material culture also found around Pskov and Oreshek. During the Livonian War the castle became a contested military position. Stephen Báthory’s forces burned it in 1579, and it was subsequently restored. After another fire, local starosta Krzysztof Sokolinski rebuilt the fortifications in 1616. Russian forces captured the castle in 1654. Its repeated destruction and repair show the vulnerability of this lake frontier. Glazed pottery and tiles from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries also indicate use of the site by people seeking refuge during warfare.