Oporów Castle - a

brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

built in the Gothic architectural style in between 1434 and 1449 in the village of

Oporów Oporów (, , ) is a district in Wrocław located in the south-western part of the city. It was established in the territory of the former Fabryczna Fabryczna () is a former borough of Wrocław located in the western part of the city. Before ...

(15 km north-east of

Kutno Kutno is a city in central Poland with 42,704 inhabitants (2021) and an area of . It is the capital of Kutno County in the Łódź Voivodeship. Founded in the medieval period, Kutno was a local center of crafts and trade, owing its growth to i ...

Łódź Voivodeship Łódź Voivodeship ( ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship (province) of Poland. The province is named after its capital and largest city, Łódź, pronounced . Łódź Voivodeship is bordered by six other voivodeships: Masovian Voivodeship ...

; in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. The castle was raised by the Deputy Chancellor of Poland (1429-1434), and highly regarded religious leader Władysław Oporowski. Formerly the castle was an important centre for the House of Oporowski of the

Sulima Coat of Arms Sulima is a Polish coat of arms. It was used by several szlachta families in the Kingdom of Poland and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Notable people using the symbol were Zawisza Czarny—a famous Polish knight—and the Sułkowski family ...

History

The first wooden stronghold located in

was recorded in the fourteenth century. The castle is said to have been raised by Mikołaj Oporowski and his son Władysław Oporowski, a highly regarded political and religious leader in the

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland (; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a monarchy in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval period from 1025 until 1385. Background The West Slavs, West Slavic tribe of Polans (western), Polans who lived in what i ...

, which in 1428 took on the estate as his own. Up until the eighteenth century the castle was owned by several families: House of Sołołobów, Korzeniowski, Pociejów and Oborski. The residence had only once ever been hit by any sort of devastation - in 1657 the castle's top levels caught fire - however, all of the castle was reconstructed. In 1930 the castle was transferred to the Society of the Credit of Land in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

(

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

: Towarzystwo Kredytowe Ziemskie w Warszawie). After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the castle was

nationalised Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with ...

and reconstructed. In 1949 the castle began housing a museum.

References

Castles in Łódź Voivodeship Kutno County {{Poland-castle-stub