Ogrodzieniec Castle
Ruiny zamku Ogrodzieniec
Interesting facts
- The writer Adolf Dygasiński was probably the first to call the ruins an eagle's nest, in the 1880s, inspiring the name of the whole Trail of the Eagles' Nests.
- After a visit to Ogrodzieniec in 1906, the Polish Sightseeing Society was founded, and the outline of the ruins went onto its badge.
- In 1984 Iron Maiden filmed footage among the ruins for Hallowed Be Thy Name, used in their video Behind the Iron Curtain.
- Netflix's The Witcher used the castle to stage the Battle of Sodden.
- For Andrzej Wajda's The Revenge, parts of the castle interiors were rebuilt as sets that stayed in place after filming ended.
- A cannonball kept in the village chapel below is said to have landed in the castle during the Swedish Deluge of the 1650s.
- The Renaissance statue of the Virgin from the castle chapel was repainted by villagers in folk style with oil paint, hiding its original look.
- According to local legend, the soul of Stanisław Warszycki also haunts the ruins of Dańków Castle, there in the shape of a headless horseman.
- Poland's postal service put Ogrodzieniec on a 2-złoty stamp in its Polish Castles series in 1971.
Why it is worth it
The ruins of Ogrodzieniec Castle grow straight out of a crown of limestone crags on Castle Mountain, at 515.5 metres the highest point of the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland. Walls and towers merge with the bare rock so closely that it is hard to tell where nature ends and masonry begins, and the castle lies on the Trail of the Eagles' Nests, the route linking the medieval strongholds of the Polish Jura.
A first fortification of earth and timber stood here in the early twelfth century, under Bolesław III Wrymouth, and was destroyed during the Mongol invasion of 1241. In the mid-fourteenth century the Włodek family of the Sulima coat of arms built a Gothic castle, using three tall rocks as part of the defences: walls closed the gaps between them, and a narrow cleft between two crags served as the entrance. The castle's great period came after 1523, when it was bought by Jan Boner; his nephew Seweryn Boner replaced the medieval fortress with a Renaissance residence between 1530 and 1545. In 1587 Archduke Maximilian, a defeated pretender to the Polish throne, captured it; Swedish troops occupying it in 1655 caused heavy damage, and Stanisław Warszycki, castellan of Kraków, partly rebuilt it. A fire set by the troops of Charles XII of Sweden in 1702 destroyed more than half the castle, and it was never rebuilt. Its last tenants left around 1810, and later owners sold off stone and fittings. Work to secure the ruins began in 1949.
Fragments of Renaissance frescoes with lilies survive on the lowest floor, and in the nearby village of Podzamcze a chapel built from carved stones of the castle keeps its vault keystone and a Renaissance statue of the Virgin. Local folklore has it that a black dog dragging a heavy chain prowls the ruins at night — the restless soul of Warszycki. The setting has drawn filmmakers repeatedly, from Andrzej Wajda's The Revenge to Netflix's The Witcher.
Getting there
The castle stands above the village of Podzamcze, near the town of Ogrodzieniec, about 10 km from Zawiercie, which has a railway station on the Warsaw–Katowice line. Katowice Airport (KTW) is about 35 km to the west, and Kraków John Paul II International Airport (KRK) about 45 km to the south.
On these lists
From the encyclopaedia
Ogrodzieniec Castle is a ruined medieval castle in Podzamcze, near Ogrodzieniec, the south-central region of Poland called Polish Jura. Originating in the 14th century the castle was rebuilt several times in its long history. It is situated on the top of 515.5-metre-high Castle Mountain, the highest hill of the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland. The ruins are open to visitors and are a part of Trail of the Eagles' Nests, a hiking trail that connects a number of well known castles in the region.
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