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Ogrodzieniec is a town in Zawiercie County, Silesian Voivodeship, Poland, with 4,282 inhabitants (2019). It is noted for the extensive ruins of a
medieval castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...
. Ogrodzieniec is a part of Lesser Poland. Ogrodzieniec lies among the hills of
Lesser Poland Upland Lesser, from Eliezer (, "Help/Court of my God"), is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Adolf Lesser (1851–1926), German physician * Aleksander Lesser (1814–1884), Polish painter and art critic * Anton Lesser (born 1952), Br ...
, on the outskirts of Zagłębie Dąbrowskie. The town has an area of 28 km2, and is located approximately 400 meters above sea level. In the south and west, Ogrodzieniec is surrounded by forests.


History

The origins of the town date back to the 11th century. It was a forest settlement, with a wooden castle built along the border of Lesser Poland and Silesia. In 1241, during the first Mongol invasion of Poland, the village and the castle were burned, and afterwards, a new, stone castle was built. Ogrodzieniec received its Magdeburg rights town charter in 1386. It was a local trade center, with merchants and artisans, many of them Jewish. Furthermore, enormous forests attracted noble hunters, including Polish kings. In 1346, Ogrodzieniec Roman Catholic parish church was first mentioned. In the mid-16th century, it was turned into a Calvinist prayer house, and remained so until circa 1630, when it was returned to the Catholics. In the first half of the 18th century, a new, stone church was built, but it was not completed until 1787. Ogrodzieniec was a private town of
Polish nobility The ''szlachta'' (Polish: endonym, Lithuanian: šlėkta) were the noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth who, as a class, had the dominating position in the ...
, including the Pilecki,
Firlej Firlej is a village in Lubartów County, Lublin Voivodeship, in eastern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Firlej. It lies approximately north-west of Lubartów and north of the regional capital Lublin. ...
, Warszycki and Jakliński families, and was administratively located in the
Lelów County Lelow County (Polish: powiat lelowski) was an administrative unit (powiat), which existed for over 400 years, both in the Kingdom of Poland and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Its history dates back probably to the late 14th century, ending in ...
in the
Kraków Voivodeship Kraków Voivodeship may also refer to: *Kraków Voivodeship (14th century – 1795) * Kraków Voivodeship (1816–1837) *Kraków Voivodeship (1919–1939) *Kraków Voivodeship (1945–1975) *Kraków Voivodeship (1975–1998) The Kraków Voivodeshi ...
in the Lesser Poland Province of the Polish Crown. After the Third Partition of Poland, in 1795, it was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia, and included within the newly formed province of New Silesia. In 1807 it was regained by Poles and included within the short-lived Polish Duchy of Warsaw. After its dissolution, since 1815, it belonged to Russian-controlled
Congress Poland Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It w ...
. After the unsuccessful Polish
January Uprising The January Uprising ( pl, powstanie styczniowe; lt, 1863 metų sukilimas; ua, Січневе повстання; russian: Польское восстание; ) was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at ...
, Ogrodzieniec, like many other locations of Lesser Poland, lost its town charter (1870). In 1888, Ogrodzieniec had 162 houses (most of them wooden), with app. 1,000 inhabitants. After World War I, in 1918, Poland regained independence and control of Ogrodzieniec. In the
Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of ...
, Ogrodzieniec belonged to the Kielce Voivodeship. In September 1939, during the German invasion of Poland, which started World War II, German troops massacred a group of Polish boy scouts from Ogrodzieniec in Tucznawa, and also carried out executions of Poles in Ogrodzieniec (see '' Nazi crimes against the Polish nation''). The town was afterwards occupied by Germany and annexed directly into the Third Reich until 1945. German occupiers planned to change its name into ''Bonerburg''. After the war, until 1956, Ogrodzieniec belonged to
Olkusz County Olkusz County ( pl, powiat olkuski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, southern Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms pa ...
of Kraków Voivodeship, then it was moved to Zawiercie County. Town rights were restored in 1973.


Ogrodzieniec Castle

Due to the existence of the Ogrodzieniec Castle, the town is a popular tourist center, located on the
Trail of the Eagles' Nests The Trail of the Eagles' Nests ( pl, Szlak Orlich Gniazd) of south-western Poland, is a marked trail along a chain of 25 medieval castles between Częstochowa and Kraków. The Trail of the Eagles' Nests was first marked by Kazimierz Sosnowski. Si ...
(note: the castle itself does not administratively belong to the town, it lies in the village of Podzamcze, 2 kilometers east of Ogrodzieniec). The castle was built in the 14th century by the Sulimczyk family. It is located on ''Góra Zamkowa'', the highest hill of the
Polish Jura 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 ...
(515 meters above sea level). First stronghold was built here in the early 12th century, during the reign of Bolesław III Wrymouth. In 1241, during the Mongol invasion of Poland, it was burned and destroyed, and in the mid-14th century, new, stone complex of a mighty
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 was built here. The castle guarded western border of Lesser Poland, and in 1470 it was purchased by the Salomon family, merchants from Kraków. It then changed hands several times, belonging to the Rzeszowskis, Pileckis, Chełmińskis and finally, the Boner family (since 1523). In 1530 - 1545, Seweryn Boner turned the Gothic stronghold into a Renaissance residence. In 1562, Boner's daughter Zofia married Jan Firlej, and the castle, as a dowry, changed hands once more. In 1587, it was captured by
Maximilian III Maximilian III may refer to: * Maximilian III, Archduke of Austria (1558–1618) *Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria Maximilian III Joseph, "the much beloved", (28 March 1727 – 30 December 1777) was a Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Emp ...
, during the War of the Polish Succession. In 1655, it was seized by Swedes (see Deluge). Swedish garrison stayed at the castle for two years, which resulted in its extensive damage. In 1669, the castle was partially restored by its new owner,
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 Kraków Stanisław Warszycki. In 1695 it was purchased by the Męciński family, and in 1702, once again it was destroyed by Swedish soldiers, during the Great Northern War. After the destruction, the castle remained a ruin, and its subsequent owners could not afford to rebuild the complex. It remained inhabited until circa 1810. After World War II, the castle was nationalized, and its walls were strengthened in 1949 - 1973, which prevented total collapse of the complex. It now has a status of permanent ruin, and is open to visitors. The castle is popular among film makers; in 1973, some episodes of the TV series ''
Janosik Janosik can refer to: * Janosik (1921 film), a Slovak film * , a Polish comedy film * Janosik (TV series), a Polish TV series * Janosik. Prawdziwa historia ''Janosik: A True Story'' (also known as ''Janosik. Prawdziwa historia'' or ''Jánošík - ...
'' were made here, and in 2001, Andrzej Wajda shot '' The Revenge'' here. Furthermore, in 1984 the castle was presented in Iron Maiden’s video '' Behind the Iron Curtain'', in the song " Hallowed Be Thy Name". Also, in the Australia television series '' Spellbinder'', the castle was used as the ruins of the castle of the old Spellbinders.


Twin towns – sister cities

See twin towns of Gmina Ogrodzieniec.


See also

* Ogrodzieniec Castle * Castles in Poland


References


External links


Ogrodzieniec.org
– unofficial site {{Authority control Cities and towns in Silesian Voivodeship Zawiercie County Kielce Governorate Kielce Voivodeship (1919–1939)