Poland: the greatest castle of the country which soon will dissapear

This willow with a white branch is still regarded by many as sitting witches

 In 1420, the bishop of Krakow, Wojciech Jastrzebiec, fell into conflict with King Ladislaus Jagiello( Jogaila) and the Teutonic Order. During the negotiations after the war with the Order and the Battle of Grunwald, he committed a number of irregularities to the detriment of the country. He was probably a spy paid by the order. owever, because not everything went as order planned, they were dissatisfied with the collaboration as well.

Fearing for his fate, he decided to build a fortress. These amazing ruins, left to fate, cost 8 tonnes of silver, which was a huge sum at that time. It was also one of the biggest castles in Poland and throughout Europe. a typical gothic castle on an island surrounded by a moat created by the Riglewka Creek's waters.

The original castle was made up of two parallel, three-story residential buildings surrounded by defensive walls measuring 21 x 25 m.An entrance gate led to the narrow, paved courtyard created by them. There was a polygonal turret in the corner. The castle in this form was a characteristic example of a knight's seat from the first half of the 15th century. In the second half of the same century, it was surrounded by the outer perimeter of low walls (38 x 41 m), creating a zwinger approximately 7 metres wide. A new foregate was also erected. A three-story, four-sided tower decorated with blendes was built on its walls at the beginning of the 16th century, and a foregate reinforced with buttresses was built in front of it.In the north-eastern part of the zwinger, a new building was erected, probably a storehouse, partially protruding beyond the line of the outer wall. At the beginning of the 17th century, two residential buildings were connected with a narrow wing, thus reducing the area of the courtyard.

Mysterious, forgotten, magnificent castle

  

The later owners of the castle were the Szczawinski family. According to legend, the daughter of Jan Szczawinski did not want to marry the husband chosen by her parents. For disobedience, she was taken to the castle and imprisoned in the gatehouse. It is said that her ghost has been wandering around the area to this day. She was imprisoned in the gatehouse after she tried to escape from the nearby Besiekiery. Here she ended her life. The castle, which was destroyed during the wars with the Swedes, was still listed as a "national antiquity" in the nineteenth century. We can say that it already existed on the list of monuments, but at that point, the story ended. Unfortunately, over time, people began to break down bricks. The place is supposedly privately owned, but the bricks continue to disappear, and nobody really cares about the castle, although it could revive a place forgotten by the world. A ghost would certainly help bring this place to life.

 

Although the place is on the list of monuments, it is separated by a barbed-wire wall and, in fact, only visible in GPS, which is worse than the traditional information. There are no road signs to the town and the castle. 

After all, "it is a strategic form of defence of the country" in some parts of the world.

Terrible roads and no signs. This, which is successful in other countries, even on a single abandoned wall, will never be possible here because of the traditional attitude of not seeing the potential of a place and hatred of tourists. After all, that creature walks, asks questions, and, God forbid, speaks in another language. Better to let the people of the village live on welfare than to commit civilization, with the owners of the castle at the start who could earn the money if he just wanted to, aside from the fact that you can now get money for the rescue of such facilities from domestic and foreign institutions.Somehow, the wall around one of the houses is made of old bricks. A powerful and, without a doubt, the most expensive fortress in Poland will soon disappear. Besides,castle  is the district of the city of Kolo(english  "wheel''), which is famous throughout the country for its traditions. From a tradition of carelessness and specific mentality. If something breaks, there is no point in fixing it, maybe it will return to its place on its own. 

''Remember when you are driving through the wheel not to break the wheel ''.

a drawning of the castle from the  time when some was still remembered about it

Poland: medieval castle and the vikings

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These are the ruins of a knight's castle built by the voivode of Leczyca, though in some stories we can read that the castle was built by order of Casimir III the Great. In the Middle Ages, the tiny town of Leczyca was one of the most important and largest cities in Poland, but fate, as it often does in history, has turned the tables.It was a fortress on the border with the territories of the Teutonic Order state, so it cannot be ruled out.It was in fact built by royal order. It is no secret that in the Middle Ages, the Teutonic Order dominated these areas and did whatever it wanted, often invading Russia, Poland, and even Sweden. The castle was originally owned by the Sokolowski family of the Pomian coat of arms. The stronghold's enigmatic name is linked to a legend about a voivode and a demon, both of whom are still present in castle Leczyca. According to the legend, the knight  made a bet with the devil Boruta that he would build a castle from scratch without using an'' ax''.  He did so, but he was unaware that one of the builders on whose behalf he was working was known as "Siekierka"—a diminutive of the word for "ax." The knight lost the castle and his soul, and that's why the castle and the adjoining village were named ''Besiekiery'''It simply means "without an ax" in old polish. Another theory refers to one of the terms, demon bias.

the fact that the tower with the window stands is a miracle, because it is 18 meters high and is not secured

   

 Archaeological excavations in 1963 and 71,  confirmed a completely different legend about the origin of the name of the place. The truth is that in the Middle Ages, Vikings were stationed here, which is confirmed by a mound discovered in nearby Lutomersk. The town probably owes its name to the Berserkers, extraordinary warriors who, after taking intoxicants, fought in bear skins. From the beginning, the castle was unlucky. For some time, it was the residence of the son of Istvan Batory, I-Andras, who was the nephew of the Polish king Istvan Batory. After the tragic death of the cardinal, Sophie Bathory moved here with her husband, Gyorgy Rakoczy. It is a joke that the man who took part in the first attempted partition of Poland under John Casimir II Waza had to settle in that country. The next owner of the castle, Szymon Szczawinski made the biggest reconstruction of the building. In 1731 there was a fire, as a result of which the castle was rebuilt and the walls were plastered, giving it the character of a baroque residence. The remnants of this reconstruction can be seen to this day in the disfigured plaster. Certainly it was no longer the baroque era, but this one did not really exist here and  took the form of a distorted baroque called: ''sarmatian style'', classicism arrived with a delay and did not replace the baroque for good. In the nineteenth century, it fell into disrepair and became a free building material for the surrounding houses. The castle is associated with the old legend of the ghost called, of course'' White Lady'' like 90% of ghosts in Poland. It is possible to see her in the empty window  of the gate tower, suddenly disappearing as she appears wading in the ruins. 

It is believed that the White Lady is the spirit of Szczawinski's daughter, who did not want to marry the candidate chosen by her parents, because she gave her heart to another man, a very poor man. As punishment, she was taken first to Besiekiery and later to the castle in Boryslawice Zamkowe, the biggest castle ruins in Poland, and imprisoned in the gatehouse. She tried to escape through the window, but it ended tragically, and later she was moved to the greatest stronghold, where she died.

 

The tower with the window is still standing despite the laws of physics because it is 18 meters high and still unlocked.Maybe a ghost or demon really protects it. The castle is currently privately owned, and its natural location on the island has been restored by cleaning the river flowing around it. Unfortunately, due to COVID, the owner was forced to close the facility, and the state is not interested in the monument. It does exist on the GPS map, but it is worse with road signs. For example, knight tournaments that attracted tourists were held here. The plans were to further strengthen the walls and create a museum. It is sad that the castle with such an interesting history will disappear, because it will disappear if the country doesn't inform people about the place, and the place must be closed