Grudziądz Granaries ( pl, Spichrze w Grudziądzu) is a unique 14th-century fortification complex of river bank

granaries A granary is a storehouse or room in a barn for threshed grain or animal feed. Ancient or primitive granaries are most often made of pottery. Granaries are often built above the ground to keep the stored food away from mice and other animals ...

on the

Vistula The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...

river in

Grudziądz Grudziądz ( la, Graudentum, Graudentium, german: Graudenz) is a city in northern Poland, with 92,552 inhabitants (2021). Located on the Vistula River, it lies within the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship and is the fourth-largest city in its prov ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

History

After the

Teutonic Order The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

founded the settlement of present-day

in 1291, the Order began building fortifications encompassing the town in the fourteenth-century. Formerly, a line of fortifications already existed on a scarp to the west of the settlement. It was in the years 1346-51 that the first

granary A granary is a storehouse or room in a barn for threshed grain or animal feed. Ancient or primitive granaries are most often made of pottery. Granaries are often built above the ground to keep the stored food away from mice and other animals ...

, Bornwald Granary, was built, followed by several in 1364. By 1504, around modern-day Spichrzowa Street (lit. Granary Street), fourteen granaries had already been constructed, reflecting the importance of Grudziądz in trade of craftsmanship in the region. A century later, there were 16 granaries. The construction of the granaries on top of the town walls along the

river was done so to be in close proximity with the river port, and thus take advantage of the flourishing grain trade. Due to the different elevations of town and river, the granaries, which from the river side look like imposing multi-stories buildings, from the town side feature only one or two floors. Other than for grain trading purposes, the granaries performed other functions, i.e. one of the granaries, between 1603 and 1608 (or 1618) served as a

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

place of worship. During the

Deluge A deluge is a large downpour of rain, often a flood. The Deluge refers to the flood narrative in the Biblical book of Genesis. Deluge may also refer to: History *Deluge (history), the Swedish and Russian invasion of the Polish-Lithuanian Com ...

at the hand of the Swedes, most of the granaries were burned down and only six had survived during the Swedish siege of Grudziądz. Rebuilding works lasted until the eighteenth-century, as a consequence of which, in relation to the former granary plans, those rebuilt had been less wide, covering smaller parcels of land individually. The following, nineteenth-century, further framework granaries had been built along the river scarp and riverfront (presently non-existent). Five granaries burned down in 1903, some were utilised for housing via enlarging windows and creating balconies on each elevation. A monumental amount of damage occurred during the final

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

Vistula–Oder Offensive during 1945. The granaries were rebuilt between 1946 and 1966. Presently, some of the granary building still perform their storage function, some have been adapted for residential use, whilst others are occupied by the Museum of Grudziądz. File:Grudziadz winter view from Klimek Tower.JPG, Southernly view from Klimek Tower onto the Vistula River and Bronisław Malinowski Bridge File:Grudziądz spichrze(WLZ12).jpg, View from the Vistulan Boulevard File:Grudziądz, dzielnica staromiejska, 1291, 2 poł. XIX.JPG, Granaries in Staromiejska District File:Grudziądz Panorama with Granaries.JPG, View of the right bank of the Vistula River and Grudziądz

References

{{coord missing, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship Buildings and structures in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship Grudziądz