The Bobolice Castle is a 14th-century royal castle in the village of Bobolice,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. The complex is located within a semi-mountainous

highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...

region called the

Polish Jura Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

History

The castle in Bobolice was built by King

Casimir III the Great Casimir III the Great (; 30 April 1310 – 5 November 1370) reigned as the King of Poland from 1333 to 1370. He also later became King of Ruthenia in 1340, retaining the title throughout the Galicia–Volhynia Wars. He was the last Polish king fr ...

in the middle of the 14th century, probably in place of an earlier wooden structure. The castle was a part of the defence system of royal strongholds protecting the western border of Poland on the side of

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

. In 1370, immediately after becoming King of Poland,

Louis I the Great Louis I, also Louis the Great (; ; ) or Louis the Hungarian (; 5 March 132610 September 1382), was King of Hungary and King of Croatia, Croatia from 1342 and King of Poland from 1370. He was the first child of Charles I of Hungary and his wife ...

granted the castle to

Władysław Opolczyk Vladislaus II of Opole (, , , ; ca. 1332 – 18 May 1401), nicknamed Naderspan, was Duke of Opole from 1356, Count palatine of Hungary (1367–1372), Duke of Wieluń (1370–1392), Governor of Ruthenia (1372–1378), Count palatine of Poland ...

, Duke of Opole, as a prize for his support of the king’s dynastic plans. Nine years later Opolczyk leased the castle to Andrzej Schoen, a Hungarian from Barbalas; the new owner manned it with Germans and Czechs, who robbed local inhabitants and conspired with the

Teutonic Order The Teutonic Order is a religious order (Catholic), Catholic religious institution founded as a military order (religious society), military society in Acre, Israel, Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Sa ...

. Dissatisfied with their behaviour, the Polish king

Władysław Jagiełło Władysław is a Polish given male name, cognate with Vladislav. The feminine form is Władysława, archaic forms are Włodzisław (male) and Włodzisława (female), and Wladislaw is a variation. These names may refer to: People Mononym * Włodzis ...

invaded Bobolice in 1396 and took over the castle with adjacent estates. From that time on, the stronghold was owned by a number of families, including Dołęga (

Dołęga coat of arms Dołęga (pronunciation: ) is a Polish coat of arms. It was used by several szlachta families in the times of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Blazon "''Azure'', a downward opened horse-shoe ''argent'' with a cross former of the same charge ...

), Szafrańcowie, Trestkowie, Krezowie ( Ostoja coat of arms; owners from 1486) and later Chodakowscy, Męcińscy and Myszkowscy ( Jastrzębiec coat of arms; owners of the neighbouring Mirów Castle). At Bobolice castle, the gentle crest Dołęga (

), is placed above the gate stronghold. Zamek Bobolice 2010

According to 15th century chronicles, a representative of the Krezowie family captured and imprisoned his niece in the Bobolice Castle. She is still said to haunt the stronghold as a ''lady in white''. There is also a tale about two twin brothers, owners of castles in Mirów and Bobolice. Legend has it that they dug a tunnel between the two strongholds so that they could often meet tête à tête. One day they came into possession of a big treasure – they hid it in the tunnel and put an odious-looking witch on guard to deter any potential thieves. The brothers understood each other perfectly and could go through fire and water for each other. However, their friendship was put to a difficult test, when one brother brought a beautiful girl from his war expedition. Suspecting that his twin brother may have fallen in love with the girl, he locked her in the cellar near the treasure. One day, during the absence of the witch, who was attending a witches’ sabbath at the Bald Mount, he caught the pair of lovers in the vault. He got angry, murdered his brother and bricked up the girl in the castle dungeons. The ghost of the girl is still said to haunt the castle tower. Bobolice plan

The beginning of the decline of the castle dates back to 1587, when it was heavily devastated during the invasion of

Maximilian III, Archduke of Austria Maximilian III of Austria (12 October 1558 – 2 November 1618), was a member of the House of Habsburg and the Archduke of Further Austria from 1612 until his death. He was also briefly known as Maximilian of Poland during his claim for the Polish ...

, a rival of

Sigismund III Vasa Sigismund III Vasa (, ; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632 N.S.) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden from 1592 to 1599. He was the first Polish sovereign from the House of Vasa. Re ...

to the Polish throne. The castle was reconstructed by the then owners, the Krezowie family, but in 1657, 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 or Le Déluge may also refer to: History *Deluge (history), the Swedish and Russian invasion of the Polish-L ...

, it was plundered and totally ruined by Swedish troops. The condition of the stronghold was so bad that when King

John III Sobieski John III Sobieski ( (); (); () 17 August 1629 – 17 June 1696) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1674 until his death in 1696. Born into Polish nobility, Sobieski was educated at the Jagiellonian University and toured Eur ...

arrived here in 1683, he had to spend the night in a tent. In the 19th century a huge treasure was found in stronghold cellars. It is supposed that its part may be stored in the legendary tunnel between Bobolice and Mirów. In 1882, after parcelling out the land, the already deserted walls were acquired by the peasant family of Baryłów. Now the castle belongs to the Lasecki family, who decided to rebuild it in 1999.

Architecture

The castle is situated on a steep rocky hill (360 m

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

). Up till now, only the upper part of the stronghold (the residential building with at least two storeys and remnants of the cylindrical

wall tower A fortified tower (also defensive tower or castle tower or, in context, just tower) is one of the defensive structures used in fortifications, such as castles, along with defensive walls such as curtain walls. Castle towers can have a variety of ...

) has survived. The castle was accessible through a

drawbridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable b ...

over the dry

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

, and the entire construction was surrounded by walls with

battlement A battlement, in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals ...

s, made of local white

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

. Currently reconstruction works are under way in order to restore the entrance gate and the circumferential wall around the castle grounds.

Gallery

File:Bobolice(js) 1.jpg, Ruined castle before restoration File:Zamek_bobolice_2004.jpg, Beginning of the castle restoration in 2004 File:Zamek Bobolice2.jpg, Castle in July 2007 File:Zamek Bobolice 2008.JPG, Bobolice Castle 2008 File:Zamek w Bobolicach odbudowa 12.08.08 p.jpg, The reconstruction of one of the towers of the castle (August 2008) File:Bobolice-03(tż).jpg, Bobolice Castle in September 2008 File:Zamek Bobolice ściana zachodnia3.JPG, Bobolice Castle in August 2010 File:Zamek Bobolice brama od wew.OK.jpg, Bobolice Castle gate tower, August 2010 File:Zamek Bobolice wnętrze kordegardy.JPG, Bobolice Castle - interior of reconstructed guardhouse, August 2010 File:Hrad Bobolice - 2011.JPG, Castle Bobolice during reconstruction in April 2011 File:Bobolice, zamek.jpg, Castle 2014

References

Bibliography

* Leszek Marzec, Kazimierz Mazurek, Tomasz Suchecki, ''Wyżyna Krakowsko-Częstochowska'', Warszawa 1986, .

External links