Castle in Ujazd

t the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, the village of Ujazd belonged to Zbigniew Ossoliński, who, however, did not distinguish it from his estates. In 1619, the Ujazdów heritage came into the possession of his son Krzysztof Ossoliński, who probably soon began the construction of one of the largest and most beautiful residential and fortification complexes in Poland. The architect was probably Wawrzyniec Senes, and the construction, for which 30 million zlotys were allocated, lasted until 1644. However, already in 1627 the residence 

Castle on Napoleon Orda's lithograph, 'Album of Views', Series 8, 1882

was suitable for use, since the first document was issued in it then. From the symbols placed on both sides of the entrance gate - the axe, the coat of arms of the Ossoliński family, and the cross, the symbol of the Counter-Reformation, the owner of which was completely devoted - the castle was called the Krzyżtoporska Fortress.

The place for the construction of the fortress was chosen using natural defensive conditions - the castle is located on the promontory of the hill, protruding into the valley of the once wet floodplain meadows of the Koprzywianka river. The complex has a plan of a regular, slightly elongated pentagonal with bastions at the corners. The gate is located in the south-eastern curtain, while four bastions closer to the gate were made of earth, the fifth, located like the gate on the axis of the complex, has deep casemates. The interior of the pentagon, from the side of the entrance gate, is occupied by a trapezoid-shaped courtyard, while the palace occupies most of the pentagonal on the north-west side. In addition to the courtyard 

Krzyżtopór Castle in the photo from 1891

between the gate and the palace, the complex has another, elliptical courtyard surrounded by palace buildings. One whole with the palace was formed by lower buildings with chambers and a chapel adjacent to it on both sides. The representative rooms were located in a building located on the axis of the complex. It was finished with an octagonal tower, to which on the bastion adjoined a building with casemates called the High Saucepan. The whole was complemented by one-storey long buildings forming a pentagonal along the curtains. These long buildings were finished with low quadrilateral towers.

When Krzysztof Ossoliński died a year after the completion of the construction, the castle was inherited by his son Krzysztof Baldwin. However, he also died soon after, and in 1650 the residence fell into the hands of the Denhoff family, and later the Kalinowski family.

When the Swedes entered Polish, they also occupied the Krzyżtopór castle in 1655. The fortress was one of the strongest at the time, and it was too risky to take it by storm. However, the Swedish army occupied it without a fight and occupied it until 1657. 

View through the door openings along the east wing, photo by ZeroJeden, VII 2001

The destruction that was done here at that time did not allow the use of the residence for a long time. Not only the buildings were destroyed, but the entire rich interior design was taken away from here. It was not until 1720 that the least ruined part was inhabited by the Morsztyn family, and then by the Pac family.

Partially renovated by Michał Jan Pac, the rooms were used by the confederates during the Bar Confederation, but it did not turn out to be good for the building, because the fights significantly deepened the previous state of ruin. In the years 1782-1787, Stanisław Sołtyk lived here, but subsequent owners resigned from using the residence, and the enormity of the complex meant that no one undertook the renovation for financial reasons.

In the twentieth century, archaeological and architectural research was carried out at the castle several times. In 1962 Andrzej Gruszecki, then in 1965 together with Janusz Kuczyński, in the years 1974-1983 - Elżbieta Dąbska-Śmiałowska, and in the years 1973-1980 the team under the direction of Alfred Majewski. The castle is currently secured as a ruin and open to the public.