Bolków Castle, Gmina Bolków, Poland

Bolków Castle is located in Bolków on the Castle Hill (Wzgórze Zamkowe), with a 396 metres, where the hillside is cut by the Nysa Szalona river, with a sharp precipice (with a sudden drop of 90 metres); the eastern side of the hill gradually lowers, taken up by the town. The castle is an upland stronghold, covering an area of 7600 m².

First mentions of the castle come from 1277, from the time of the reign of Boles³aw II Rogatka, Duke of Legnica. The castle's current shape was only done so by various constructions in the sixteenth century, the famous Silesian architect Jakub Parr brought elements of the Renaissance into the castle's fortifications. After the construction and expansion, the castle had a total area of 7600 m², making it one of the largest castles in Silesia. In 1703, the castle in Bolków was bought by Cistercian monks from Krzeszów. After the laicisation of monastic property, the castle went to the State Treasury of Poland.

References:

Castles and fortifications in Poland

User Reviews

Philip Lievens (3 years ago)
Nice to visit the music festival every year! Castle party festival, nice music, atmosphere and nice people!!!

Alessandro Amorati (3 years ago)
From oitside it looks very nicely. But inside there is no so much to see. The museum consists just of 4 rooms. The rest are only ruins. The price is low and fair.

John Mork (3 years ago)
well worth the drive from wroclaw, easy to find with signs from the main road, parking is close to site, a bit of a walk up to the castle, fee is 10zlotych and didn't take a tour, but explored on my own with the other tourists, there is a small museum, quite nice. Castle is in a ruined state, you can walk around and inspect the walls, the tower is about 25 meters high, and you can climb to the top and enjoy the views! lots of other things to see in the vicinity, enjoy!

Adrian Folkesson (3 years ago)
Castle was closed due to a festival when we got there, but what little we could see was stunning. The architecture was absolutely marvelous.

Ariel Macedo (3 years ago)
Great views from a historical castle, the tour shows a good part of the history and contains interesting items. Good choice for a day visit.

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Photo from Flickr, copyright Steve Clasper

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Kraków Cloth Hall

The Cloth Hall in Kraków dates to the Renaissance and is one of the city's most recognizable icons. It is the central feature of the main market square in the Kraków Old Town (listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1978).

The hall was once a major centre of international trade. Traveling merchants met there to discuss business and to barter. During its golden age in the 15th century, the hall was the source of a variety of exotic imports from the east – spices, silk, leather and wax – while Kraków itself exported textiles, lead, and salt from the Wieliczka Salt Mine.

Kraków was Poland's capital city and was among the largest cities in Europe already from before the time of the Renaissance. However, its decline started with the move of the capital to Warsaw in the very end of the 16th century. The city's decline was hastened by wars and politics leading to the Partitions of Poland at the end of the 18th century. By the time of the architectural restoration proposed for the cloth hall in 1870 under Austrian rule, much of the historic city center was decrepit. A change in political and economic fortunes for the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria ushered in a revival due to newly established Legislative Assembly or Sejm of the Land. The successful renovation of the Cloth Hall, based on design by Tomasz Pryliński and supervised by Mayor Mikołaj Zyblikiewicz, Sejm Marshal, was one of the most notable achievements of this period.

The hall has hosted many distinguished guests over the centuries and is still used to entertain monarchs and dignitaries, such as Charles, Prince of Wales and Emperor Akihito of Japan, who was welcomed here in 2002. In the past, balls were held here, most notably after Prince Józef Poniatowski had briefly liberated the city from the Austrians in 1809. Aside from its history and cultural value, the hall still is still used as a center of commerce.

On the upper floor of the hall is the Sukiennice Museum division of the National Museum, Kraków. It holds the largest permanent exhibit of the 19th-century Polish painting and sculpture, in four grand exhibition halls arranged by historical period and the theme extending into an entire artistic epoch. The museum was upgraded in 2010 with new technical equipment, storerooms, service spaces as well as improved thematic layout for the display.

The Gallery of 19th-Century Polish Art was a major cultural venue from the moment it opened on October 7, 1879. It features late Baroque, Rococo, and Classicist 18th-century portraits and battle scenes by Polish and foreign pre-Romantics.

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