Castle in Mirów

he Mirów and Bobolicki castles form a beautiful landscape complex on a two-kilometer long rock ridge. Casimir the Great, strengthening the eastern border of Lesser Poland, at the same time as the Bobolice castle, erected a brick one-storey building here in the first half of the fourteenth century. It was not yet a castle, but only a watchtower connected with the Bobolice castle. It was not until the end of the fourteenth century that Krystyn of the Lis coat of arms from Koziegłowy, after 

Fragment of ruins from the south, photo by ZeroJeden, VII 1997

receiving the Mirów estate, began to transform the watchtower into a castle. Probably king Władysław Jagiełło when handing over the castle to Krystyn, ordered him to make this expansion.

In 1489, representatives of the Myszkowski family came into possession of Mirów and established a family seat here. As such, it had to be enlarged and modernized, of course. The main building was raised by two storeys, and the residential tower was also raised to five storeys. At that time, the lower castle was also built, to which the entrance through the gate tower led.

There were residential and farm buildings in the lower castle.

From 1600, the Myszkowskis began to call themselves margraves of Mirów de Gonzaga. Zygmunt Myszkowski received this title from his Italian friend, Duke of Mantey de Gonzaga. The foreign-sounding name was supposed to add splendor to the already powerful family. Mirów, although impressive, was no longer enough for them. So they sold the castle and the property to Koryciński, who after a few years gave 

J. Lewiski's zinctype, Tygodnik Illustrowany 1861 from the collection of the Library of the Institute of Literary Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences

it to the Męciński family. When the time of the Swedish Deluge came, this beautiful Eagle's Nest was destroyed, and after attempts to rebuild it, in 1787 it was completely abandoned.

Not much has remained of the lower castle, only the foundations of some buildings. However, the upper castle is quite well preserved. It has most of the walls, and only the ceilings have fallen into ruin. Renaissance frames have been preserved in the windows, and two portals have also survived.