Jurassic landscape - Ojców, Prądnik Valley, Poland

#ojcow #dolinapradnika #jura #skaly #pradnikvalley #rocks #view #viewpoint #krajobraz #widok #landscape #panorama #szlakorlichgniazd #eaglesneststrail #trees #forest

Ojców - Glove Rock and Krakow Gate (Poland)

The name of the rock is associated with a legend according to which during one of the Tartar invasions, the local population sought shelter in the Dark Cave, the entrance of which is located nearby. God covered the entrance with his own hand, thus saving people from death or shameful captivity. The rock, consisting of five finger-like columns in its upper part, resembles a hand in shape. It is well visible both from the bottom of the valley and from the tourist trail leading through the Crown Mountain.

Krakow Gate is built of blocks of rocky limestone, about 15-20 meters high. According to legend, the distance between the columns of the Krakow Gate is constantly decreasing year by year. When the rocks come together completely, it will be the end of the world. That is why those passing through the gate place sticks and poles under them, trying to prevent them from moving. After all, we can’t let the world end. ;)

#ojcow #dolinapradnika #pradnikvalley #skala #skaly #rock #rocks #rekawica #glove #skalarekawica #gloverock #brama #bramakrakowska #gate #cracowgate #krakowgate #jura #malopolska #polska #poland #szlakorlichgniazd #eaglesneststrail #valley #dolina #landscape #panorama #widok #krajobraz #drzewa #trees

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

Rabsztyn Castle, Poland

Not far from Olkusz, in the village of Rabsztyn - Poland, on a rocky hill towering over the whole area, there are the ruins of a knight’s castle. Perhaps the original castle already existed here at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries, erected by the Toporczyk family of Morawica. However, the creator of the walled castle was Casimir the Great. The castle occupied a high rock promontory and was a typical Gothic building on an irregular plan built of limestone with bricks.

The history of the successive owners of the castle and the functions the building served is very eventful. It is not short of bloody family conflicts. One of them was the murder of the castle’s owner Andrzej Tenczynski by his own brother. One of the principals of this act, who was a councilman and former mayor of Krakow Marcin Bełza, later served his sentence here.

In the early years of the 17th century, the lower castle was rebuilt into a three-winged two-story non-defensive palace. It had as many as 40 rooms for the court and servants! The entrance to the castle led from the north through a drawbridge and a gate tower called Slawkowska. As a result of these transformations, the Gothic stronghold took on the character of a Renaissance grand palace.

In 1657 the retreating Swedes plundered and then set fire to the poorly defended Rabsztyn. From that moment the castle began to fall into ruin. Although some of the surviving rooms were used until the beginning of the 19th century, the starost’s seat was moved to a manor house built nearby. The work of destruction was completed by treasure hunters who in the mid-19th century blew up the tower of the upper castle and some of the surviving rooms.

#rabsztyn #zamek #castle #castello #polska #poland #malopolska #lesserpoland #architektura #architecture #widok #krajobraz #landscape #gothicarchitecture #architekturagotycka #gothic #ruiny #ruins #szlakorlichgniazd #eaglesneststrail #renaissance

Ruins of Bydlin Castle, Poland

The first mention of the castle dates back to the end of the 14th century. A watchtower was built on a high, rocky hill as part of strengthening the borders with Silesia. It consisted of a tower, a residential building and an adjacent courtyard.

In the first half of the 16th century, Bydlin became the property of the Boners, and the building, which lost its defensive value, was turned into a church. During the Reformation, around 1570, the new owner - Jan Firlej, changed the church into an Arian congregation. In 1594, Mikołaj Firlej, Jan’s son, restored the church’s previous character and named it Holy Cross. In 1655, the church was destroyed by the Swedes. 80 years later it was rebuilt, but still robbed by foreign troops sweeping Poland, it was finally abandoned at the end of the 17th century. It fell into ruin, which was further accelerated by the demolition of the perimeter wall, from which the stone was used as a building material.

In addition to the ruins mentioned above, there are numerous traces of trenches on the hill dating back to World War I. Here, in 1914, the Legionnaires fought a battle that went down in history as the Battle of Krzywopłoty. In the nearby cemetery there are graves of soldiers who died here.

#bydlin #zamek #castle #castello #jura #polska #poland #szlakorlichgniazd #eaglesneststrail #architektura #architecture #widok #krajobraz #landscape #gothicarchitecture #architekturagotycka #gothic #ruiny #ruins

Ogrodzieniec Castle, Poland

It is located on Góra Zamkowa - the highest hill of the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland. The first fortifications were built there during the reign of Bolesław Krzywousty, but they were destroyed during the Tartar invasion in 1241.

The brick castle was built during the reign of Casimir the Great, who leased it to the Marshal of the Kingdom of Poland, Przedbor of Brzezie. Przedbór expanded the castle fortifications by allocating significant funds for this purpose.

In 1387, Władysław Jagiełło handed over the stronghold to the ruler of Krakow - Włodek of Charbinowice - compensating the previous owner - Przedbor from Brzezie - with a large sum of money for the previously incurred costs.

In the years 1530 - 1545, the castle was expanded by adding a new wing and adapting it to the Renaissance style.

In 1655, the fortress was partially burned by the Swedish army, which destroyed it for the next 2 years while their garrison was there. Almost half a century after the end of the Deluge, the castle fell victim to the Northern War. This time it was completely burned by the troops of the Swedish king Charles XII. After this event, it never regained its glory.

The last inhabitants left the ruined building around 1810.

The ruins of Ogrodzieniec are powerful and beautiful, which can be clearly seen in the scene of the Battle of Sodden Hill in "The Witcher". In the series, the castle served as a fortress that guarded the narrowest section of the Yaruga - a river of great strategic importance, and blocked Nilfgaard's troops from further expansion north.

#ogrodzieniec #zamek #jura #sodden #poland #polska #castle #castello #szlakorlichgniazd #eaglesneststrail #wiedźmin #witcher #thewitcher #architektura #architecture #widok #krajobraz #landscape #panorama #gothicarchitecture #architekturagotycka #gothic

Sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Jasna Góra, Częstochowa, Poland (part 2)

The buildings of the monastery complex that have survived to this day began to be built in the 15th century. Gothic is, among others, presbytery of the Jasna Góra basilica. In the 17th century, the monastery was fortified according to the most modern patterns of the time and the whole structure was rebuilt in the baroque style. Most of the basilica and the chapel of the Miraculous Image, the chapel of St. Anthony, the tower, the refectory and the so-called Knight's Hall come from this period. The 18th-century decor includes, among others: a library with approximately 15,000 incunabula, manuscripts and old prints. An important facility built in the 20th century is the Chapel of Memory of the Nation, which serves as a mausoleum. Valuable votive offerings of supplication and thanksgiving are collected in the Jasna Góra Treasury, which is located above the sacristy. The Museum of the 600th Anniversary of Jasna Góra, opened in 1982, is also worth visiting. The figures of Father Augustyn Kordecki, the Primate of the Millennium - Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński and Pope John Paul II were honored at Jasna Góra with impressive monuments.

#jura #szlakorlichgniazd #eaglesneststrail #częstochowa #sanktuarium #sanctuary #klasztor #monastery #jasnagóra #kościół #church #poland #polska #widok #view #landscape #krajobraz #architektura #architecture #architekturasakralna #sacralarchitecture