Castle in Toruń-Podgórz

he ruins rise on the left bank of the river. Wisła River in the Podgórze district next to the Józef Piłsudski road bridge. Near the castle runs the international blue tourist trail from Toruń to Suchatówka. The history of the castle is marked by the so-called Peace of Mełno, signed in 1422, under which King Władysław Jagiełło regained the lands on the left bank of the river. Wisły donated to the Teutonic Knights in 1230 by the Duke of Masovia, Konrad.

The construction of the castle began in 1423 opposite the Teutonic Toruń. In the years 1423-25, a four-storey residential house was the first to be built, then after 1431 the building was incorporated into the perimeter of the defensive walls, and a gate tower was built. The whole was surrounded by a wet moat, the castle probably 

photo by ZeroJeden, III 2002

had a signal and defense tower, on which no traces have been found so far. Inside the castle there was a large four-sided courtyard. In historical sources, the Dybów castle was mentioned in 1425 on the occasion of the visit of King Władysław Jagiełło. Soon, to the west of the castle, a settlement was established, alternately called Dybów, Nowa Nieszawa or Nieszawa.

The dynamically developing settlement was a serious competition for townspeople and merchants from the opposite Toruń. It should be mentioned that the state border ran in the middle of the riverbed. Wisły and the Dybów castle served as the royal watchtower. Fears for their own income and hatred among the townspeople fueled by the Teutonic Knights caused a reaction, which resulted in an attack on the royal castle in 1431. The castle was conquered by the Teutonic Knights supported by the townspeople of Toruń and until 1435 it was garrisoned by the Teutonic Knights. After 1435, the walls of the castle were raised and embrasures were knocked out. The corners of the walls were topped with brick cylindrical turrets with an external diameter of 3 meters.

In 1454, King Kazimierz Jagiellończyk staying in the castle granted the so-called 'Nieszawa Statutes' extending the rights of the nobility. The development of events related to the Thirteen Years' War (1454-1466) and the help provided by the Toruń inhabitants in this matter resulted in the decision of King Casimir Jagiellon in 1460 to move the settlement of Dybów, which was competitive to Toruń, up the river. Wisła in place of today's town of Nieszawa.

Until 1466, the Dybów castle was 

Aerial photo, photo by ZeroJeden, X 2018

the seat of the royal burgrave, and after the Second Peace of Toruń it was the seat of the royal starosts. A customs chamber was also built here. In 1512, as a pledge for King Sigismund the Old, the castle was in the hands of the Toruń city council.

The fall of the castle began during the Swedish wars, specifically in 1656, when the Swedish commander of the fortress tried to blow up the Dybów castle. The castle was not destroyed, but suffered permanent damage. In 1727, during the inspection it was mentioned as a ruin. In 1703, during the next siege of the city by the Swedish army of King Charles XII, the castle was turned into a redoubt from which the town was shelled, hence the further destruction of the castle. In 1793, after the Second Partition of Polish, the castle was occupied by the Prussian army.

In 1813, a group of about 40 French soldiers from Marshal Ney's corps under the command of Colonel Suvara defended itself for 3 months in the ruins of the castle against the advancing Russian troops. Already at that time, the castle was surrounded 

Plan of the castle according to L.Grzeszkiewicz-Kotlewska [Source]

by earth fortifications. In 1848, the area of the castle was included in the town fortifications. In the perimeter walls, ground-level embrasures adapted for the artillery of the time were knocked out, and the castle itself gained a pincer-type rampart.

In 1936, conservation works were carried out here. In the years 1971-72, works were carried out to secure the building as part of the so-called permanent ruin.

From the period of the former splendor of the castle, the perimeter walls have survived to this day, traces of three cylindrical tops of corner turrets, the ruins of the gatehouse (in the 70s it was reconstructed) and the western and southern walls. the so-called residential building. The whole ruins are open to the public, which some 'visitors' use to devastate the surroundings.

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