Sobieski's Castle in Oława is a

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

style castle located in the site of a former

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. The original castle had been built by Duke Ludwik I built in the second half of the fourteenth century. It was the third castle structure in

Oława Oława (pronounced , , szl, Oława) is a historic town in south-western Poland with 33,029 inhabitants (2019). It is situated in Lower Silesian Voivodeship (from 1975–1998 it was in the former Wrocław Voivodeship), within the Wrocław me ...

, the first being the seat of the

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 ...

s, located in the south-east of the town. It remained an integral part of the town's defenses until the

wars War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

with the

Hussites The Hussites ( cs, Husité or ''Kališníci''; "Chalice People") were a Czech proto-Protestant Christian movement that followed the teachings of reformer Jan Hus, who became the best known representative of the Bohemian Reformation. The Hussit ...

Construction

The

castle was built by master Jakub of

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

(most likely with the surname Pahr, builder of the

Bolków Castle Bolków Castle is a castle located in Bolków on the Castle Hill ( pl, Wzgórze Zamkowe), with a 396 metres, where the hillside is cut by the Nysa Szalona river, with a sharp precipice (with a sudden drop of 90 metres); the eastern side of the hi ...

), continued by his brother-in-law Bernard Niuron in 1588. After various reconstructions, this part of the castle now houses the local

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

rectory A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically ow ...

of St. Apostle Peter and Paul. The reconstruction covered the whole of the

castle, this included the now former west and northern wings of the castle-church. The castle-church's tower, the last fragment of the northern wing, collapsed in the later years of 1970s. The current castle-church also has a two-level

pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings: * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

constructed in the early-

architectural style, built onto the western side of the

castle. The pavilion was constructed by Italian masters during the reign of

Christian, Duke of Brieg Christian of Brieg-Legnica (german: Christian von Liegnitz-Brieg, pl, Chrystian Brzeski-Legnicki, cz, Kristián Břežsko-Lehnický; 19 April 1618 in Oława – 28 February 1672 in Oława) was a Duke of Legnica (during 1653–1654 and 1663–16 ...

(1618–1672); the castle's building is called ''Christianbau''. It was probably designed and built by Carlo Rossi, an Italian architect who spent most of his career in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

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 populous ...

. The site included a

terraced In agriculture, a terrace is a piece of sloped plane that has been cut into a series of successively receding flat surfaces or platforms, which resemble steps, for the purposes of more effective farming. This type of landscaping is therefore ...

garden which was incompatible with the Polish climate, causing in its rapid devastation.

Owners and inhabitants

The castle was part of the defenses used by the

House of Piast The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I (c. 930–992). The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of king Casimir III the Great. Branch ...

to protect their lands from incursion by their various enemies; their royal rule in Poland ended in 1370, but the family continued to dominate the areas bordering on

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 ...

and

Moravia Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The me ...

. In the 17th century, the last duke, Christian, left the castle to his widow,

Louise of Anhalt-Dessau Louise of Anhalt-Dessau (german: Luise; 10 February 1631, in Dessau – 25 April 1680, in Ohlau), was a German princess (German: '' Fürstin'') of the House of Ascania in the branch of Anhalt-Dessau and by marriage Duchess of Legnica, Brzeg, Wo� ...

, as her dower house; she was also the regent for her son, Georg William until his death of smallpox in 1675; the boy was the last male Piast. She remained at the castle until her own death in 1680, after which the Holy Roman Emperor

Joseph I Joseph I or Josef I may refer to: *Joseph I of Constantinople, Ecumenical Patriarch in 1266–1275 and 1282–1283 *Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor (1678–1711) *Joseph I (Chaldean Patriarch) (reigned 1681–1696) *Joseph I of Portugal (1750–1777) ...

confiscated the Piast lands and castles. During the reign of

James Louis Sobieski James Louis Henry Sobieski (Polish: ''Jakub Ludwik Henryk Sobieski''; French: ''Jacques Louis Henri de Sobieski'') 2 November 1667 – 19 December 1737) was a Polish-French nobleman, politician, diplomat, scholar, traveller and the son of John II ...

, Oława Castle received new interior furnishings and the library was enlarged. After the prince left Oława in 1734, the structure began to decline. The Prussians subsequently located a hospital and a bakery in the castle.

Construction

Owners and inhabitants

See also