The palace and castle complex, located in the northeastern part of the city of Nesvizh, is famous not only for its historical and cultural value, but also for mystical phenomena.
During the Second World War, the Nesvizh Castle was under the Nazi occupation and served as a military hospital. Even then, some wounded German soldiers claimed that a ghost lived within the walls of the castle, but their speeches were attributed to slight shell shock.
The old legend of the Black Lady dates back to the 16th century, at a time when the castle belonged to the Radziwill family. The cousin of the first owner of the Nesvizh castle, Nikolai Cherny, Barbara was very interested in the young Lithuanian prince Zhigimont Augustus. She lost her father early and, soon, her husband. The palaces of the young widow and the prince were nearby. They met often and did not notice how they fell in love with each other.
Rumors began to spread about this, which reached the relatives. The Radziwills demanded from Zhigimont a final decision: either to marry Barbara, or not to see her again, because they were greatly worried about the family's reputation. Bone Sforza, the prince's mother, was generally against such a marriage. Knowing his precarious position at court, the prince decided to make a difficult decision.
He secretly married Barbara, but decided to keep the marriage a secret until he became the ruler of the state, because otherwise he could not protect either Barbara or himself. Zhigimont told his mother that he had put an end to his intrigues with the Radziwills.
Their hidden marriage became known only when the old king died and the prince, as a new monarch, began to actively look for a worthy wife. Bona Sforza tried in every possible way to disrupt the coronation, but the prince, having enlisted the support of the Pope, nevertheless carried out his plan.
Promotional video:
In protest, Bona Sforza, along with her retinue, left the kingdom, returning to their homeland - to Italy. But before leaving, she hired killers who were supposed to poison the hated daughter-in-law. A few days later, she was mixed with poison, which slowly but surely killed her. Barbara was crowned in December 1550, and six months later she was gone.
After Barbara's funeral, the sarcophagus with her body was placed in the Cathedral. The new king felt all the bitterness of loss and the kingdom plunged into mourning. Zhigimont was ready to give everything to talk to her at least once. Somehow he caught sight of old grimoires and the king had a crazy idea, which he was helped by two famous alchemists at that time. It was too short a time for Barbara's soul to leave this world and they decided to call her spirit in the Cathedral.
When everything was ready, the alchemists warned Zhigimont that if everything works out, then physical contact with the shell of the soul should be excluded due to the difference in matter. The king was even offered to tie himself to a chair in which he was waiting for the appearance of the spirit, but he refused and gave his word to control himself.
But when, after the ritual, Zhigimont saw the appearance of his beloved, then, in joy, he rushed to her to hug her. From the touch of the king to Barbara, something happened that is described as nothing more than a small explosion that cut off the spirit's path to the other world, but did not allow it to become a part of earthly life.
Legend has it that the ghost of Barbara still lives within the walls of the Nesvizh castle and sometimes a lady in a black mourning dress appears to warn people about the approach of war, pestilence or death.