Podzamcze - Ogrodzieniec Castle

State of preservation:		Picturesque ruin
Admission:		Quite expensive, but worth it
Parking:		The parking lots near the castle are paid
Searching difficulty:		The boards lead up to the destination
Access difficulty:		From the official parking lots you can go down the walking avenue
Subjective rating:		Lovely ruins

Driving directions:

Driving down the road no 790 from Pilica to Ogrodzieniec you drive through Podzamcze. There on the left side of the main road the ruins of the Ogrodzieniec Castle tower above the town.


Historical outline:

The original history of the castle is not too clear. It is known, that in the XIIIth cent. in the place of the present castle the wooden defensive construction could be found. On its relics in the XIVth cent. the brick castle arose. It was originally in a lifelong tenancy of the marshal of Kindom of Poland, Przedbór from Brzeź, granted to him by Casimir III the Great. In 1386 by a hereditary right the stronghold along with vast demesne was granted to a Cracovian butler and a starost of Lublin, Włodek from Charbinowice of Sulima coat of arms by Władysław II Jagiełło. In 1470 the castle along with the neighboring lands were purchased from Sulima family by the wealthy Cracovian burghers - Imbram and Piotr Salomon.
In subsequent centuries the castle was in turn in the possession of: the Rzeszowskis, the Piłeckis, the Chełmińskis, the Boners, Mikołaj Ligęza, the Firlejs, Stanisław Warszycki and the Męcińskis.
The castle in its centuries-old history was being repeatedly destroyed. In 1587 the archduke Maksymilian Habsburg captured it, then the Swedes, who surprisingly did not make any serious destructions. What the Swedes could not achieve at the first attempt, they improved in 1702, when the armies of Charles XII of Sweden set fire to the stronghold. Since then the castle was falling into ruin, and at the beginning of the XIXth cent. its walls were being even disassembled.
After the World War II it was resolved to keep the castle in the form of a permanent ruin. Restoration works were carried out in the years of 1949-1973, and its results we can admire up to this day.




Pictures:



Pictures of knights tournament which took place at this castle




Nearest castles:

Mirów

Bobolice (Silesia Province)

Siewierz

Smoleń

Bydlin

Rabsztyn