Castle of the Pomeranian Dukes - the only

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

castle located on the coast of the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. The castle's formation is close to that of a

square In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90- degree angles, π/2 radian angles, or right angles). It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-length a ...

, with a tower measuring 24 metres in height. The castle's construction began in 1352, in the reign of Bogusław V, whose reign began the alliance with the Hanseatic League. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the castle was used as a warehouse and a prison. Since 1930, the castle was turned into a museum.

History

Zamek Książąt Pomorskich w Darłowie-dziedziniec

The Castle of the Pomeranian Dukes was built during the second half of the fourteenth century, in 1352. It was constructed during the reign of Bogusław V and Elżbieta, the daughter of

Casimir III the Great Casimir III the Great ( pl, Kazimierz III Wielki; 30 April 1310 – 5 November 1370) reigned as the King of Poland from 1333 to 1370. He also later became King of Ruthenia in 1340, and fought to retain the title in the Galicia-Volhynia Wars. He ...

. Although this was only a secondary residence of the

House of Pomerania The House of Griffin or Griffin dynasty (german: Greifen; pl, Gryfici, da, Grif) was a dynasty ruling the Duchy of Pomerania from the 12th century until 1637. The name "Griffins" was used by the dynasty after the 15th century and had been tak ...

, the castle was enlarged and modernised in the fifteenth and sixteenth century, becoming a worth royal residence. The town of

Darłowo Darłowo (Polish pronunciation: ; ; ), in full The Royal City of Darłowo ( pl, Królewskie Miasto Darłowo), is a seaside town in the West Pomeranian Region, at the south coast of the Baltic Sea, north-western Poland, with 13,324 inhabitants as ...

was given the title of ''The Royal City of Darłowo'' (''Królewskie Miasto Darłowo'',

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

) The greatest expansion of the castle was done under the reign of

Eric of Pomerania Eric of Pomerania (1381 or 1382 – 24 September 1459) was the ruler of the Kalmar Union from 1396 until 1439, succeeding his grandaunt, Queen Margaret I. He is known as Eric III as King of Norway (1389–1442), Eric VII as King of Denmark (1 ...

, who rebuilt the castle to that of the design of his previous residence,

Kronborg Castle Kronborg is a castle and stronghold in the town of Helsingør, Denmark. Immortalized as Elsinore in William Shakespeare's play ''Hamlet'', Kronborg is one of the most important Renaissance castles in Northern Europe and was inscribed on the UNE ...

. He had also modernised the castle's defensive fortifications, and built a second defence line, in the form of dikes around the castle. The following expansion of the castle was done under the reign of Duke Bogusław X. When a new wing was built. The next changes were done by Duke

Barnim XI Barnim XI (1501–1573; by some accounts Barnim IX), son of Bogislaw X, Duke of Pomerania, became Duke of Pomerania, duke on his father's death in 1523. Life Barnim ruled for a time in common with his elder brother George I, Duke of Pomerania, G ...

. After a great fire, which devastated the castle in 1624, the last Duke of the

, Bogusław XIV, had rebuilt the castle. However, he did not restore the castle to its original architectural style. The castle had lost many of its defences, and a chapel was built inside the Duke Hall. After the duke's death, his widow, Duchess Elżbieta, took over the castle, who lived with him until death.

History

See also