Bobolice (Silesia Province)

State of preservation:		Until 2002 it was a picturesque ruin. At present the castle is completely rebuilt.
Admission:		The castle is the private property at the moment and is being reconstructed. The entrance is possible only on weekends, in July and August.
Parking:		Next to the palace there is something resembling the parking lot
Searching difficulty:		The castle is not visible from the main road and you have to search it for a while
Access difficulty:		To walk around the castle, you must stroll some time down a hilly ground
Subjective rating:		It had got 5 stars in 2002. Unfortunately, it gets only 3 now.

Driving directions:

In the place Żarki, north of Zawiercie, you have to drive down the road no 789 in the direction of Lelowo. In the place Niegowa turn right to Bobolice. After entering the village, drive down the main road until you spot the chapel under the tree next to the pool on the right side. There you have to park and walk down the path to the right as far as the ruins.


Historical outline:

The castle was founded in the XIVth cent. by Kazimierz Wielki, about which Jan from Czarnków as well as Jan Długosz mentioned. The castle was changing its hands multiple times. In 1370 Ludwik Węgierski, on the occasion of coronation presented it to Władysław Opolczyk, who in turn in 1379 handed it over for a short time to a Hungarian Andrzej Schoen from Barlabas. In 1391 the stronghold was seized by Władysław Jagiełło, since his namesake Władysław Opolczyk filled the castle with the German and the Czech, who plundered the neighboring terrains. In the latter centuries the castle belonged to e.g. the Szafraniec family, Trestk family, the Krez family, the Chodakowski family, the Męciński family as well as the Myszkowski family.
There is no certainty when the castle decayed. For sure an archduke Maksymilian Habsburg, who invaded the stronghold in 1587 as well as the Swedes in the middle of the XVIIth cent., made its contribution. Supposedly in 1683 in the castle Jan III Sobieski was a guest. He had to sleep in the tent however, since the building was already heavily ruined.
The inventory from 1700 mentions that the castle was even resided by the then leaseholder of the key of Bobolice, J.Rutkowski. Later the structure was deserted.
The castle was never a subject of detailed research and presumably it will never be as a present owner devastates it with the help of concrete and bricks.


Pictures:




Nearest castles:

Olsztyn (Silesian Province)

Mirów

Siewierz

Podzamcze

Smoleń