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Rzeszów Castle - one of the main landmarks of Rzeszów rebuilt between 1902-1906, located on the former grounds of the castle of the House of Lubomirski. Currently the castle houses the seat of the provincial court, the building housed a prison up until 1981.
An early fortress stood on the castle's grounds since the sixteenth century. At the end of the same century, Mikołaj Spytek Ligęza built a Motte-and-bailey castle close by to the current castle's location. In 1620 he expanded the castle into a 'Palazzo in fortezza'. Since 1637 the castle was put under the ownership of the House of Lubomirski. Most of the building works were done by Tylman van Gameren and Karol Henryk Wiedemann. In 1820 the complex was brought under Austrian authorities; which adapted the building for a courthouse and a prison. The building was deconstructed at the beginning of the twentieth century due to its poor state. The only parts left from the original complex are the gatehouse and bastion fortifications.
References:The Externsteine (Extern stones) is a distinctive sandstone rock formation located in the Teutoburg Forest, near the town of Horn-Bad Meinberg. The formation is a tor consisting of several tall, narrow columns of rock which rise abruptly from the surrounding wooded hills. Archaeological excavations have yielded some Upper Paleolithic stone tools dating to about 10,700 BC from 9,600 BC.
In a popular tradition going back to an idea proposed to Hermann Hamelmann in 1564, the Externsteine are identified as a sacred site of the pagan Saxons, and the location of the Irminsul (sacral pillar-like object in German paganism) idol reportedly destroyed by Charlemagne; there is however no archaeological evidence that would confirm the site's use during the relevant period.
The stones were used as the site of a hermitage in the Middle Ages, and by at least the high medieval period were the site of a Christian chapel. The Externsteine relief is a medieval depiction of the Descent from the Cross. It remains controversial whether the site was already used for Christian worship in the 8th to early 10th centuries.
The Externsteine gained prominence when Völkisch and nationalistic scholars took an interest in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This interest peaked under the Nazi regime, when the Externsteine became a focus of nazi propaganda. Today, they remain a popular tourist destination and also continue to attract Neo-Pagans and Neo-Nazis.