Castle in Ogrodzieniec

grodzieniec Castle is located on a rocky hill called Janowski Mountain east of the town of Ogrodzieniec. The first wooden and earth defensive complex could have existed here as early as the times of Bolesław Krzywousty. It is also possible that the first Ogrodzieniec stronghold was located on the neighboring Birów Mountain, where Błażej Muzolf discovered relics of a wooden hillfort in the 90s of the twentieth century during research. The brick stronghold was built during the reign of Casimir the 

Ogrodzieniec Castle in the photo of Henryk Poddębski from before 1932

Great or slightly earlier. Casimir the Great granted the Ogrodzieniec estate to the Marshal of the Kingdom of Poland, Przedbor of Brzezie. When Przedbór received Ogrodzieniec, the castle was damaged and required reconstruction, which was carried out, it is possible that the wooden castle had previously received brick defensive elements. At that time, the castle occupied the highest part of the rocks, but outside the perimeter walls, it could only consist of wooden courtyard buildings. It is possible that from the north-east, where the slope descended more gently, there was a rampart or a defensive wall. The entrance to the castle area led through a crack in the rocks on the eastern side of the complex. After the death of Przedbor, the castle returned to the property of the state and in 1386 Władysław Jagiełło gave it to the cześnik of Kraków and the starost of Lublin Włodek of Charbinowice of the Sulima coat of arms. In the fifteenth century, probably during the times of the Sulims, the castle was expanded. A three-storey residential tower was erected on the 

View from the east, photo by ZeroJeden, VI 2009

eastern rock, and a residential wing on the southern one. In the courtyard, although it may have existed before, a water cistern was placed. In 1470, the castle was bought from the Sulim family by Imbram and Piotr Salomon, and then became the property of the Rzeszowski, Pilecki, Chełmski and Boner families. In the first half of the 16th century, the owner of Ogrodzieniec was Seweryn Boner. He was the right-hand man of Sigismund the Old, who ordered him to rebuild Wawel. After building the royal residence, he decided to erect an equally magnificent one for himself. Of his many estates, he chose Ogrodzieniec as the best located, close to Krakow. He rebuilt the Gothic stronghold in Ogrodzieniec into a magnificent Renaissance residence. At that time, the northern wing was built, the southern wing was enlarged, which received two towers, and in the place of the former gate, a third gatehouse was erected, to which a drawbridge led. In the gate tower, a chapel was arranged on the third floor. At the foot of the castle there was a vast outer bailey for economic 

End of the chicken leg, photo by ZeroJeden, V 2005

and entertainment purposes, where knightly tournaments were organized. After the death of Seweryn Boner, the expansion was continued by his son Stanisław, who erected the west wing, and added a chicken leg to the southern wing outside the castle walls, this building had five storeys and on each of them there were arrowslits.

However, the castle in the sixteenth century was more of a residence than a defensive object. The next owner of Ogrodzieniec was Mikołaj Ligęza, who raised the defense of the castle from the south by erecting a beluard next to the chicken leg. The castle was captured in 1587 by the army of Archduke Maximilian Habsburg, but it did not suffer in this episode. Then it was owned by the Firlej family, and in the mid-seventeenth century, Andrzej Firlej made minor construction works and changed the décor of the castle to Baroque. During the Swedish Deluge, the castle was taken over by the invader, but it also did not suffer. After the withdrawal of the Swedes, the castle was taken over by the castellan of Kraków, Stanisław Warszycki, who surrounded the outer bailey with a wall with an entrance gate and erected a stable and a coach house within it.

From 1702, the decline of the castle began. The Swedish troops of Charles XII, withdrawing from these areas, set fire to the residence. The then owners of Męciński did not undertake too expensive renovation and the castle fell into ruin. In 1784, the ruined buildings were bought from the Męciński family by Tomasz Jakliński, and only a few rooms were suitable for use here. In 1810, the last owner of Ogrodzieniec, Jakliński's sister, finally left 

photo by Konrad Kłos, 1914

the castle. From then on, it was a place where building material was obtained for the surrounding farms. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the area with the ruins was bought by one of the local peasants, which, however, did not change the purpose of the ruins.

In the interwar period, on the initiative of Aleksander Janowski, co-founder of the Polish Touring Society, the castle area was gradually bought out and the property was secured.

After World War II, in the years 1949-1973, the castle was secured as a permanent ruin and made available to tourists.

Show on map