Castle in Garbno

he first wooden-earth defensive complex was built in Garbno at the end of the 13th century on a hill above a small river. They were erected by the Teutonic Knights after the conquest of Barcia and placed here a bailiff subordinate to the Kętrzyn Prosecutor's Office, which administratively was subordinate to the Balgian commandry. At the turn of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the castle gained a brick form. It was founded on a plan similar to a square with a side of about 32 meters, the corners of the wall with a thickness of 2 meters were reinforced with four towers open inwards. From the west, there was a gatehouse halfway along the wall, and the residential building was probably added to the northern section of the perimeter walls. Other wooden buildings 

Cellars using the remains of the southern part of the castle, photo by ZeroJeden, IV 2007

could have been erected along the remaining curtains.

Records from 1328 prove that the castle was to protect Kętrzyn from Lithuanian invasions. Despite the small size, there was enough space within the walls for the population of the castle settlement to take refuge here in times of danger.

During the Polish-Teutonic war, the castle was destroyed, after which it was not rebuilt. It was not until the nineteenth century that excavations uncovered the foundations of the complex and allowed to partially reconstruct the plan of the castle.