Project “New life of the old city...” once again reveals the unknown secrets of history
During the implementation of the cross-border project “New life of the old city: revitalization of monuments of historical and cultural heritage of Lutsk and Lublin”, which is being realized within the Cross-border Cooperation Programme Poland-Belarus-Ukraine 2014-2020, the next stage of archaeological researches has begun. In the process of excavations, carried out by the State Enterprise “Scientific and research center “Security Archaeological Service of Ukraine” of the Institute of Archaeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine by order of the Executive Committee of the Lutsk City Council, a basement room and a passage to the underground premises of the Jesuits Monastery have been found under the basement of the Chortoryiski Tower under a layer of soil.
During the previous archaeological inspection the unexplored premises under the Chortoryiski Tower were discovered, however, they were not accessible. This is what prompted the Executive Committee of the Lutsk City Council to order complex archaeological works in this part of the monument. Currently, an active phase of research is underway, in accordance with the agreement concluded with the State Enterprise “Scientific and research center “Security Archaeological Service of Ukraine” of the Institute of Archeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. The find is still being investigated by specialists. According to the researcher of the Security Archaeological Service Viktor Baiuk, the cells of the defensive tower and of the monastery are the integral underground complex. All newly discovered premises during the restoration works will be added to the list of tourist attractions of Lutsk in the future.
Currently within the project “New life of the old city: revitalization of monuments of historical and cultural heritage of Lutsk and Lublin”, which is being implemented by the Executive Committee of the Lutsk City Council and the Municipality of Lublin, a considerable amount of works have already been done: the walls of the Chortoryiski tower have been restored, the main works to restore the entrance to the basement of the former Jesuits college (monastery) have been completed, the fragment of the defensive wall of the Okolny (Lower) castle preserved to this day has been restored and strengthened, the south-western facade of the collegium has been restored, archaeological excavations of the foundations of the lost part of the defensive wall and, as mentioned above, the cells of the tower have been started,
the landscaping of the inner and outer courtyards of the collegium and the installation of the fence have been started, a significant part of the works on the restoration of the cells have been carried out.