Castle in Żarnowiec

Å »arnowiec received city rights from Casimir the Great in the fourteenth century. This king erected a brick castle in the newly established town.

Jan of Czarnków does not mention the Å»arnowiec building on the list of castles erected by Casimir the Great. Jan DÅ‚ugosz, on the other hand, writes that: The aforementioned Queen of Poland, Adelaide, who was guarded like an exile in the castle in Å»arnowiec, built by King Casimir from very beautiful, baked bricks. The castle was destroyed in 1524 during 

The castle area, view from the site of the former courtyard to the northern corner, photo by ZeroJeden, XII 2004

the great fire of the town. At that time, it belonged to the starost of Żarnowiec, Andrzej Gnoiński. In the mid-seventeenth century, the castle and the town were destroyed by the Swedish invasion.

The relics of the complex are located on the left bank of the Pilica River, north-west of the market square in Żarnowiec. Today, the outlines of the moat are still partially visible.

Archaeological excavations carried out in 1994 showed the existence of brick relics. A m.in corner tower was unveiled, which is associated with the oldest phase of the fourteenth-fifteenth century castle.

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