Ojców Castle (

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 ...

: ''Zamek Ojców'') - a castle located in the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland, part of a system of castles known as the ''Eagle's Nests'' (

: ''Orle Gniazda'') - formerly protecting the southern border of the

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Królestwo Polskie; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a state in Central Europe. It may refer to: Historical political entities * Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom existing from 1025 to 1031 * Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom exi ...

; currently housing a museum dedicated to the castle in its renovated castle-tower. The castle is located in the village of

Ojców Ojców is a village in Gmina Skała, in Kraków County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It is one of the sights of the Eagle Nests Trail (''Szlak Orlich Gniazd''), as there are the ruins of a gothic castle near the village. Th ...

( north of

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

), Lesser Poland Voivodeship; in

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 was used as a

stronghold A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere' ...

, built by

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 ...

in the second half of the fourteenth century. The castle is located in the Ojcowski National Park.

History

A legend mentions, that the caste was built by the Duke of Wrocław Wiesław I,

Popiel Prince Popiel ІІ (or Duke Popiel) was a legendary 9th-century ruler of two proto- Polish tribes, the Goplans and West Polans. He was the last member of the Popielids, a mythical dynasty before the Piasts. According to the chroniclers Gall ...

's brother-in-law, however the first recorded information about the castle comes from the fourteenth century - linking up with

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

, who used the castle as part of his defensive line against the

Kingdom of Bohemia The Kingdom of Bohemia ( cs, České království),; la, link=no, Regnum Bohemiae sometimes in English literature referred to as the Czech Kingdom, was a medieval and early modern monarchy in Central Europe, the predecessor of the modern Czec ...

and the south. The King named the castle in honour of his father,

Władysław I Łokietek Władysław I Łokietek, in English known as the "Elbow-high" or Ladislaus the Short (c. 1260/12 March 1333), was King of Poland from 1320 to 1333, and duke of several of the provinces and principalities in the preceding years. He was a member of ...

, calling it ''Father by the Rock'' (

: ''Ociec u skały''). In 1665 the stronghold was taken over by the Swedes, which they partially burned and deconstructed. The House of Koryciński, who owned the castle, had renovated it, and built additional living quarters. Various battles throughout the oncoming centuries had caused the castle to be shifted between different owners. Causing the castle to go through several cycles of renovation and deconstruction, currently the castle stands as the picturesque, and renovated ruin. Actor and comedian

Andrzej Grabowski Andrzej Piotr Grabowski (born 15 March 1952 in Chrzanów, Poland) is a Polish actor, singer and comedian. He is best known for playing the role of Ferdynand Kiepski in the TV series ''Świat według Kiepskich''. Career Grabowski graduated from ...

wrote a statement about his visit:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ojcow Castle Buildings and structures completed in the 14th century Castles in Lesser Poland Voivodeship Kraków County

History

See also

References