Cisy Castle
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Cisy Castle is a ruined mediaeval hillside castle near the village of Cieszów, in
Gmina Stare Bogaczowice __NOTOC__ Gmina Stare Bogaczowice is a rural gmina (administrative district) in Wałbrzych County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. Its seat is the village of Stare Bogaczowice, which lies approximately north-west of Wałbrzych ...
(a municipality), Wałbrzych County,
Lower Silesian Voivodeship Lower Silesian Voivodeship, or Lower Silesia Province, in southwestern Poland, is one of the 16 voivodeships (provinces) into which Poland is divided. The voivodeship was created on 1 January 1999 out of the former Wrocław, Legnica, Wałbrz ...
, Poland.


History

Sources disagree with each other (and sometimes within themselves) over historical details, and are not easy to reconcile. There seems to have been some sort of stronghold on the site from the 10th or 11th century. The date of construction of Cisy Castle is uncertain. So too is its date of first historical mention; for which sources variously say 1240, 1243, 1264, and 1327. According to some accounts, construction was begun under Bolko I the Strict (1252/56 - 1301) of the house of Piast, and was completed under his grandson
Bolko II the Small Bolko II the Small (c. 1312 – 28 July 1368), was the last independent Duke of the Piast dynasty in Silesia. He was Duke of Świdnica from 1326, Duke of Jawor and Lwówek from 1346, Duke of Lusatia from 1364, Duke over half of Brzeg and Oława ...
( – 1368). According to another account, in 1355 Bolko II captured the castle from
robber knight A robber baron or robber knight (german: Raubritter) was an unscrupulous feudal landowner who, protected by his fief's legal status, imposed high taxes and tolls out of keeping with the norm without authorization by some higher authority. Some re ...
s. According to a yet another account, the castle was built by Bolko I at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries, it was captured by robber knights, and it was subsequently recaptured by Bolko II. Its purpose was similar to those of the castles at ,
Grodno Grodno (russian: Гродно, pl, Grodno; lt, Gardinas) or Hrodna ( be, Гродна ), is a city in western Belarus. The city is located on the Neman River, 300 km (186 mi) from Minsk, about 15 km (9 mi) from the Polish b ...
, , and : to guard the western borders of the Piast dukedoms of
Świdnica Świdnica (; german: Schweidnitz; cs, Svídnice; szl, Świdńica) is a city in south-western Poland in the region of Silesia. As of 2019, it has a population of 57,014 inhabitants. It lies in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, being the seventh larges ...
and
Jawor Jawor (german: Jauer) is a town in south-western Poland with 22,890 inhabitants (2019). It is situated in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship (from 1975 to 1998 it was in the former Legnica Voivodeship). It is the seat of Jawor County, and lies appro ...
. The castle achieved its greatest fame during the late 14th century, when Nikel Bolcze,
castellan A castellan is the title used in Medieval Europe for an appointed official, a governor of a castle and its surrounding territory referred to as the castellany. The title of ''governor'' is retained in the English prison system, as a remnant o ...
of
Strzegom Strzegom (german: Striegau) is a town in Åšwidnica County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is the seat of the Gmina Strzegom administrative district (gmina). It lies approximately north-west of Åšwidnica, and west of th ...
, lived there, and was often visited by Agnes (1322-1392), widow of Bolko II, who had inherited the castle from him. The castle next passed into
Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
n ownership. As already mentioned, sources are conflicting. (1) According to one account, ownership of the castle passed by prior agreement after the deaths of Nikel and of Agnes to new but unidentified owners, who enlarged it. In 1428, the castle was occupied by the Hussites during their unsuccessful struggle for religious freedom (1419-1434). It was subsequently occupied by robber knights. In 1484, they were expelled and the castle was destroyed. In the 16th century, ownership passed to the wealthy . During the
Thirty Years War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an es ...
(1618-1648), the castle was burnt by Swedish troops during their intervention in that conflict. (2) According to another account, ownership passed by unspecified means. The castle was successively occupied by various families; namely, Zeispercek, A. von Grunau and Czettritz, and was further enlarged. (3) According to yet another account, in 1408 the castle was bought by Alexander von Grunau, and in 1429 by Ulrich . In 1466, the castle was severely damaged by Hussite troops.A questionable statement. The Hussites had been suppressed in 1434. It is conjectured that it was later repaired and improved. The castle was damaged again by Swedish troops during the Thirty Years War. It was subsequently (i.e. not earlier than the 17th century) taken over by the Czettritz family. (4) According to another account still, after Agnes' death the castle became the property of the king of Bohemia, who passed it in succession to two knightly families, von Grunau and von Czettritz. The castle was damaged during the Hussite Wars. It was subsequently repaired and strengthened. In 1643, Swedish troops destroyed it. After the end of the Thirty Years War, the Czettritz family reclaimed the castle, but did not repair it. Stones were removed and used in other buildings. Later accounts also are not easy to reconcile. (1) According to one account, in 1794-1797 Jan Henryk VI von Hochberg commissioned architect Christian Tischbein to rebuild the ruins in an antique style appropriate to his castle of Nowy Dwór. (2) According to another account, the castle was abandoned around 1800. (3) According to still another account, authorities at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries ordered that the castle be destroyed. (4) According to yet another account, the castle fell into ruin over the years as stones were taken away and used elsewhere. In 1830, what was left of the castle passed to the von Zieten family. Some preservation and reconstruction work was carried out during the 19th century and between the World Wars. Those efforts were destroyed during fighting in 1945 towards the end of World War II. There have been more recent attempts to preserve the site, and to promote it as a tourist attraction.


Description

The castle was built of local
sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
. Its walls were irregular, and were adapted to the hillside terrain. The original design seems to have included a fortified western entrance and a more-or-less square surrounding wall, with a circular
Bergfried ''Bergfried'' (plural: ''bergfriede''; English: ''belfry''; French: ''tour-beffroi''; Spanish: ''torre del homenaje'') is a tall tower that is typically found in castles of the Middle Ages in German-speaking countries and in countries under German ...
about in diameter in the southeastern corner; as well as a residential building at least two
storey A storey (British English) or story (American English) is any level part of a building with a floor that could be used by people (for living, work, storage, recreation, etc.). Plurals for the word are ''storeys'' (UK) and ''stories'' (US). T ...
s in height in the opposite corner. Further military elements were added later. It was protected by a dry moat. The best preserved parts are the tower, fragments of the wall, remains of the gate, and a part of one of the residential buildings.


See also

* Castles in Poland


Notes


References

* By . * *


External links

* {{cite web , url=http://fotosudety.pl/pogorze-walbrzyskie-ruiny-zamku-cisy , title=Pogórze Wałbrzyskie: Ruiny zamku Cisy , date= 11 May 2014 , website=fotosudety.pl , language=Polish , accessdate=3 July 2018 A website with a gallery of photographs of Cisy Castle. * Castles in Lower Silesian Voivodeship * Ruined castles in Poland * Wałbrzych County