Castle in Toszek

he hillfort in Toszek was probably built in the 10th century. In the twelfth century, a castellany was established here, which is confirmed by mentions from 1222 and later mentioning three castellans: Jakub, Jaksa and Zwigor. The brick castle was built at the turn of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, when the perimeter walls were erected, irregularly surrounding a fairly large area of the plateau of the hill. From the north and west, perpendicular sections of the wall ran to each other, and from the south and east, the courtyard was closed by a wall running along an arch. The entrance led from the east, where a moat was dug and a bridge was built over it. The gate was placed in the foregate, protruding significantly towards the moat. The remaining buildings were probably wooden at 

photo by ZeroJeden, V 2005

that time. For some time, the castle was the seat of the Piast princes from the Opole line, who ruled from here with a separate duchy.

During the invasion of the Hussites, the castle was damaged in 1429, but it was renovated only in the second half of the fifteenth century, when it belonged to the prince of Oświęcim Przemysław. In the 16th century, it was the property of the Habsburgs and then the Rederns. In 1570, a fire broke out in the castle, which significantly destroyed the buildings. The Rederns undertook to expand the complex in the Renaissance style. At that time, a residential house with two cylindrical towers was built adjacent to the gate entrance from the south. In the place of the former entrance, a new building with an entrance hall was erected. The entrance was additionally reinforced with a small outer bailey surrounded by a wall with four low towers - two at the corners and two at the new entrance gate.

When in the seventeenth century Toszek came into the possession of the Colonna family, they expanded the residence of the Rederns in the years 1650-1666. From the outside, they added a residential building to the castle walls, from the west, and castle stables from the south. The new building on the corners from the courtyard side had square four-storey towers, one of which has survived to this day. Two towers were also added to the gatehouse. A small building was added to one of the bastions at the entrance to the outer bailey, which from then on housed the burgrave's apartment.

When in 1811 the buildings were consumed by fire, the castle was completely abandoned, and the owners moved to 

photo by ZeroJeden, IX 2005

the lower manor. For over 100 years, the remains of the castle deteriorated, in 1927 the first architectural research was undertaken by Bodo von Ebhardt, but only after the Second World War in the years 1956-1963 some of the buildings were renovated, and the remaining walls were secured as a permanent ruin.

The castle now houses cultural institutions.

Show on map