he city of Bodzentyn was founded by bishop Bodzety (Bodzanta) of the Poraj coat of arms in 1355, moving the seat of the hunting manor from Tarczek there. During his time, a wooden castle was built on the site of the current castle. This structure was quickly destroyed and Bodzety's successor bishop Florian of Mokrsko built a brick gothic castle before 1380, the local residence of the bishops of Kraków. The castle, connected to the city fortifications, is located on a high escarpment, which is flowed by the Psarka River. On June 19, 1410, Władysław Jagiełło stayed at the castle, returning from one of his pilgrimages to Święty Krzyż. The king received Pomeranian envoys here. A fire in 1413 destroyed the wooden buildings of Bodzentyn. Probably due to the damage caused by this fire, bishop
Plan of the medieval castle according to Maria Brykowska 'Castle/palace of the bishops of Krakow in Bodzentyn...'
Zbigniew Oleśnicki rebuilt the castle, which was then given a more regular plan and a residential wing was built on the northern side. At the end of the 15th century, Cardinal Fryderyk Jagiellończyk added the eastern wing. Construction work was continued during the 16th century by subsequent bishops: Jan Konarski, Piotr Tomicki and Franciszek Krasiński, who gradually gave the whole thing Renaissance features. The transformation of the originally gothic building into a truly Renaissance residence was carried out in 1581 by bishop Piotr Myszkowski. At that time, the older parts of the castle were unified in style. The construction works were supervised by the Italian architect Jan Balcer, whose contribution was appreciated by Piotr Myszkowski, who granted him and his wife the privilege of establishing a garden in the suburb of Bodzentyn.
The last major reconstruction took place in the 17th century. The southern wing was built then. The construction was led by the following bishops: Jakub Zadzik (who, since being appointed to the bishopric of Kraków in 1635, became known as the most ardent enemy of the Reformation), Piotr Gembicki, Piotr Tylicki, Marcin Szyszkowski and Andrzej Trzebicki. After almost 80 years, in 1691, the works were completed by bishop Jan Małachowski, who placed his coat of arms visible to this day in the window lintels. The castle was then given the baroque form, with a plan similar to a horseshoe.
From the inventories, we know the appearance of the castle after these reconstructions. From the outer bailey, the castle courtyard was entered by a red sandstone gate preserved to this day, preceded by a brick bridge. The courtyard
The castle in Bodzentyn in the photo from 1933
was surrounded on three sides by three-storey wings covered with a stepped roof. The eastern risalit was topped by a Renaissance attic. The passage between the castle wings was possible through a cloister, which from the courtyard side ran along all the storeys of the middle wing. In the 18th century, only renovation works were carried out. In the mid-18th century, the architect Jakub Fontana worked on decorating the castle. These were the last years of the magnificence of this residence. The last - at the end of the 18th century - ruler of the palace was bishop Sołtyk. In 1789, the clerical estate was taken over by the state, so the castle was abandoned, then it was transformed into a granary and a military hospital. The hospital was located here until 1814, but then the castle was finally abandoned. Iconography from the mid-19th century shows that the castle was not yet a complete ruin. In several halls, the townspeople of Bodzentyn still held balls, but then until the end of the 19th century, building material was taken from the castle, which deepened the destruction. There were even plans to completely demolish
Woodcut according to a drawing by J. Krajewski, Tygodnik Illustrowany 1882 from the collection of the Library of the Institute of Literary Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences
the castle ruins, which fortunately were not carried out. In 1902, the building was recognized as a protected monument. In modern times, the walls were secured, turning them into a permanent ruin. Only fragments of the walls remain on the castle hill, above the window openings you can see the coat of arms with the coat of arms of Ślepowron bishop Krasiński and the aforementioned coat of arms of Nałęcz bishop Jan Małachowski. A fairly clear outline of the entire palace also remains. Since 1963, research has been conducted in Bodzentyn under the direction of Maria Brykowska. The castle has a dark history. When the bishopric of Kraków took over, Jakub Zadzik imprisoned and Calvinists in the castle's basements. Allegedly, the bishop locked one of them in the dungeons together with his "heretical books" and starved him until he ate them. Another prisoner was Father Kazimierz Bełza, for stripping the Myślenice church of the gold ornaments hung on the altars and stored in the treasury.
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e city of Bodzentyn was founded by bishop Bodzety (Bodzanta) of the Poraj coat of arms in 1355, moving the seat of the hunting manor from Tarczek there. During his time, a wooden castle was built on the site of the current castle. This structure was quickly destroyed and Bodzety's successor bishop Florian of Mokrsko built a brick gothic castle before 1380, the local residence of the bishops of Kraków. The castle, connected to the city fortifications, is located on a high escarpment, which is flowed by the Psarka River. On June 19, 1410, Władysław Jagiełło stayed at the castle, returning from one of his pilgrimages to Święty Krzyż. The king received Pomeranian envoys here. A fire in 1413 destroyed the wooden buildings of Bodzentyn. Probably due to the damage caused by this fire, bishop 
