Castle in Kaunas, Lithuania (part 2 of 2)

After the Battle of Grunwald in 1410, the castle lost its strategic importance and served primarily administrative and judicial functions. In the 16th century, it was expanded, including the addition of a bastion on the southeastern side. In the 17th century, floods and warfare caused further destruction. In 1655, the town and castle burned down during the Swedish invasion, and the building ultimately fell into ruin.

Until the 18th century, the castle served as a prison, and after the Third Partition of Poland, the Russians allowed houses to be built on its grounds, further exacerbating the damage.

The castle’s location next to the flooding Neris River contributed to the collapse of sections of the walls. Only parts of the structure survive today, including a four-sided tower, wall fragments, and a bastion from the 16th century.

Archaeological and conservation work was carried out in the 20th and 21st centuries, and between 2010 and 2011, a reconstruction project was carried out, including the reconstruction of part of the tower and walls.

Currently, the castle houses a branch of the Kaunas City Museum, and the building itself is a venue for numerous cultural events, festivals and knightly tournaments, constituting one of the city’s main tourist attractions.

#kowno #kauno #kaunas #litwa #lithuania #zamek #castle #pilis #wieza #tower #baszta #pogon #vytis #miasto #city #widok #landscape #historia #history

Castle in Kaunas, Lithuania (part 1 of 2)

Kaunas Castle is considered the oldest stone castle in Lithuania, and also the only preserved one with two lines of defensive walls.

The first stone castle was built in an uninhabited area at the confluence of the Neris and Nemunas rivers, around the mid-14th century, as part of a fortification system protecting Vilnius and Trakai from the Teutonic Knights. It was an irregular quadrilateral structure with reinforced double stone walls, measuring 330 meters in length, and included two towers.

First mentioned in Teutonic sources in 1361, the castle was captured and almost completely destroyed after a three-week siege by the Teutonic Knights in 1362, who used catapults and siege towers.

After the Teutonic Knights withdrew, the Lithuanians built earthen fortifications on the spot, followed by a new stone castle. Further battles and sieges in the 14th century, including in 1384 and 1391, led to the destruction and rebuilding of the stronghold. Around 1396, the castle already belonged to the Teutonic Knights, who expanded it as a base for their campaigns.

The castle changed hands several more times as a result of armed conflicts. In 1396, an armistice was signed within its walls between the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order and Vytautas, after which Kaunas became a border town near the territory of Samogitia, which was under Teutonic rule.

#kowno #kauno #kaunas #litwa #lithuania #zamek #castle #pilis #wieza #tower #baszta #pogon #vytis #miasto #city #widok #landscape #historia #history

Baszta Bluszczowa

#Architektur #Polska #BESTOFF #Poland #pomorskie #PolskaPieknyKraj #visitpomorskie #architektura #FujiFilmXT100 #FujiFilm #FujiFilmX #FotografiaKolorowa #XC1545mm #ColourPhotography #architecture #Lębork #ColourPhoto #baszta #kolor #BasztaBluszczowa

The Royal Castle in Chęciny, Poland (part 2)

In 1465 a dangerous fire broke out in the castle, and from the second half of the 16th century, that is, when Queen Bona moved out, Chęciny Castle began to lose its luster and splendor. Another fire took place in the mid-sixteenth century, and the staroste Stanisław Dębiński, in order to restore the use of the castle, made only the most important renovation works. The destruction of the castle was done in the 17th century. In 1607, during the Zebrzydowski Rebellion, the fortress was burnt down and the armory plundered. The castle was plundered again in 1655 by the Swedes and their ally Prince George Rákóczi in 1657. The stronghold ceased to be the residence of starosts and was abandoned in 1707 after its subsequent devastation by the Swedes.

After these events, the castle was abandoned. The castle cannons fired for the last time in 1787 to the cheers of King Stanislaw August Poniatowski entering the city. Since then, the walls of the medieval stronghold have served the local residents as a source of building materials.

During World War I, the ruins were used by the Russian army. Then, as a result of Austrian artillery fire, the towers were seriously damaged. In the interwar period, minor conservation works were not able to stop the destruction of the castle.

During World War II, a threat to the castle was the exploitation of stone from Góra Zamkowa to obtain building material for roads in the General Government. The exploitation was stopped, which saved the castle walls from collapsing. After World War II, the ruins of the castle are reconstructed (inter alia, in the years 1948 -1949 - towers, 1959 - 1960 - walls).

#checiny #swietokrzyskie #baszta #tower #zamek #castle #castello #polska #poland #architektura #architecture #widok #krajobraz #landscape #gothicarchitecture #architekturagotycka #gothic #ruiny #ruins #historia #history

The Royal Castle in Chęciny, Poland (part 1)

It was erected on the ridge of a rocky hill (367 meters above sea level) probably at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries, on the initiative of Wenceslaus II, the king of the Czech Republic and Poland.

The first mention of the castle comes from 1306 and concerns the granting of a stronghold by Łokietek to the bishop of Muskata together with eleven surrounding villages. This privilege was revoked and the castle, together with the emerging town, became the center of princely and then royal power. At the beginning, it covered only the present eastern part - two round towers with a wall in the shape of a polygon similar to a rectangle in the terrain matching the relief.

The castle in Chęciny played an important role: the king often visited the castle and congresses of the knights were held in the years 1310, 1318, 1331, 1333. In 1318 - in fear of the Teutonic Knights - the treasury of the Archdiocese of Gniezno was deposited here. Several years later, in June 1331, in Chęciny, the king’s son was appointed governor of Wielkopolska. Equal laws, courts, and coinage were also introduced as an expression of the unification of the country. It was decided to join the war with the Teutonic Knights, and after the congress, the Polish knights moved to Płowce. This event is regarded as the beginning of Polish parliamentarism.

During the reign of Casimir the Great, the castle became the seat of the city starosts and the residence of royal families. The king extended the castle with a residential building on the north side and a forearm, which was later added to the chapel.

#checiny #swietokrzyskie #baszta #tower #zamek #castle #castello #polska #poland #architektura #architecture #widok #krajobraz #landscape #gothicarchitecture #architekturagotycka #gothic #ruiny #ruins #historia #history

The gate tower of the Ojców Castle, Poland

The ruins of Ojcow Castle lie on top of a 36-meter-high rock, in the middle of the Prądnik Valley.

The castle was erected by Casimir the Great, and a legend says that the name castrum Oczec was created in honor of his father Wladyslaw Lokietek, who once found a hiding place from enemy armies near Ojcow.

Originally, the castle consisted of an octagonal tower of ultimate defense perched on rocks towering above the rest of the hill, a perimeter of walls encircling the hill irregularly along its edge, and a quadrangular gate tower attached to the rocks at the foot of the donjon. A dwelling house was built along the eastern section of the perimeter walls. The promontory was cut off from the rest of the hill by a deep ditch, over which a drawbridge was thrown.

In 1400 the castle was pawned by Wladyslaw Jagiello. Subsequent starosts were representatives of many wealthy families, including the Szafraniec, Boner, Myszkowski and Korycin families.

During the Swedish Deluge, the invaders probably seized the castle without a fight and arranged it as a weapons and food warehouse.

After the partition of Poland at the end of the 18th century, the castle began to be neglected and fell into disrepair, eventually the inhabitants abandoned it in 1826.

At present, the gate tower, octagonal tower, the base of the walls of the southern building and remnants of the perimeter walls are preserved here. A well is also preserved in the courtyard.

#ojcow #wieza #baszta #tower #brama #gate #zamek #castle #castello #polska #poland #malopolska #lesserpoland #architektura #architecture #widok #krajobraz #landscape #gothicarchitecture #architekturagotycka #gothic #ruiny #ruins #szlakorlichgniazd #eaglesneststrail #jura

W malutkim Orlu (gmina Mrocza, powiat nakielski) jest spore zagęszczenie zabytków. Jakiś czas temu wrzucałem do fediwersum (chyba jeszcze na mastodon.social) zdjęcia tamtejszego kościoła z 1866 oraz rządcówki z 1820 wraz z magazynem zbożowym z 1870.

Pominąłem wtedy schowany w kępie krzaków i drzew nad brzegiem jeziora dwór obronny z XV wieku, a raczej jego ruiny, bo został zniszczony w czasie potopu szwedzkiego i pozostały jedynie resztki murów.

Po przeciśnięciu się przez chaszcze można obejrzeć zarys głównej części dworu i ośmiobocznej baszty. Latem może być ciężko się przedostać, ale wiosną i jesienią wystarczy trochę samozaparcia i odporności na pokrzywy :)

#zabytek #historia #XVw #dwór #DwórObronny #zwiedzanie #ruiny #baszta #PotopSzwedzki #mury #Orle #Mrocza #NakłoNadNotecią #WidzianeZRoweru