Castle in Włocławek

he bishop's castle in Włocławek was located on the lowland left bank of the Vistula at the mouth of the Zgłowiączka River, east of the cathedral church and the town. The original wooden and earth stronghold, which was already in the possession of bishops of Kuyavia in the 12th century and rebuilt many times, was burned by the Teutonic Knights in 1329. The brick castle was probably erected by bishop Maciej of Gołańcza, ruling the Kuyavian diocese in the years 1324-1364, who built the Gothic 

Aerial photo, photo by ZeroJeden, X 2018

cathedral in Włocławek and the castle in Raciążek. The Włocławek castle was rebuilt many times in the 16th and 17th centuries, as indicated by descriptions in inventories from 1582 and 1589, but these descriptions do not allow for the reconstruction of the complex. A drawing by Abraham Boot from 1632 sheds some light here. The drawing shows a castle erected on a regular plan, surrounded by a wall with covered porches of guards, with a large two-storey residential house. On the south-eastern corner there was a tower topped with a helmet. The entrance led from the south through the gatehouse. Reconstructions from the eighteenth century and from the end of the nineteenth century deprived the castle of all defensive elements.

Archaeological research from the sixties of the twentieth century established that the Gothic castle was erected on the site of a wooden-earth stronghold, which was surrounded by moats supplied with water from Zgłowiączka.

The bishop's palace is located on Gdańska Street, near the cathedral.