Wisłoujście Fortress (, ) is a

historic History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

fortress A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from L ...

located in

Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...

by the Martwa Wisła river, by an old estuary of the river

Vistula The Vistula (; ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest in Europe, at in length. Its drainage basin, extending into three other countries apart from Poland, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra i ...

, flowing into the

Bay of Gdańsk A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

. The fortress is located close to the Wisłoujście

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

, Westerplatte and the Port Północny (Northern Port). It is listed as a Historic Monument of Poland.

Description

Different parts of the

are clearly in different architectural styles (predominantly Gothic) and in different styles of construction and building materials. This is the result of the fortress being rebuilt every time it was destroyed or badly damaged. The basement and foundation of the fortress is based on wooden crates (''kaszyce''), which are hidden underneath in the water. Rubble was heaped on top of these structures to strengthen them, providing a stable and strong base for the fortress. The heart of the fortress is a

circular Circular may refer to: * The shape of a circle * ''Circular'' (album), a 2006 album by Spanish singer Vega * Circular letter (disambiguation), a document addressed to many destinations ** Government circular, a written statement of government pol ...

tower (currently devoid of the

coping Coping refers to conscious or unconscious strategies used to reduce and manage unpleasant emotions. Coping strategies can be cognitions or behaviors and can be individual or social. To cope is to deal with struggles and difficulties in life. It ...

), which until 1785 was used as a

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

. The lighthouse is surrounded by 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 ...

flange A flange is a protruded ridge, lip or rim (wheel), rim, either external or internal, that serves to increase shear strength, strength (as the flange of a steel beam (structure), beam such as an I-beam or a T-beam); for easy attachment/transfer o ...

(also known as a circular battery), whose inner walls are sealed together with the officers' living quarters. Around the battery there is a four-

bastion A bastion is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fire from the ...

''Fort Carré'', which is led by a

gatehouse A gatehouse is a type of fortified gateway, an entry control point building, enclosing or accompanying a gateway for a town, religious house, castle, manor house, or other fortification building of importance. Gatehouses are typically the most ...

with a

postern A postern is a secondary door or gate in a fortification such as a city wall or castle curtain wall. Posterns were often placed in concealed locations, allowing inconspicuous entrance and exit. In the event of a siege, a postern could act as a s ...

from 1609. The north-western side of the fort-carré is adjoined to the Martwa Wisła river, while the rest of the fortress is separated off from land by a sconce known as the ''Szaniec Wschodny'' (Eastern Sconce). The sconce is lined up with five

s, two of which are

ravelin A ravelin is a triangular fortification or detached outwork, located in front of the innerworks of a fortress (the curtain walls and bastions). Originally called a ''demi-lune'', after the ''lunette'', the ravelin is placed outside a castle a ...

s - one of which survived. The ''Fort carré'' as well as the Eastern Sconce are surrounded by a

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

, sourced by the Martwa Wisła river. From about 1721 until 1889, the lighthouse tower was topped with a later-

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

. After its burning due to a fire caused by lightning, the

was reconstructed and coated with

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of Clay mineral, clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g., Kaolinite, kaolin, aluminium, Al2Silicon, Si2Oxygen, O5(hydroxide, OH)4) and tiny f ...

, which survived up until 1945. The tower also had formerly a clock, dating back to the eighteenth century. In 1945, due to artillery strikes, the tower was almost completely destroyed, the coping and officers' headquarters and upper levels were also devastated. The only parts of the fortress which were left untouched, were the walls of the ''Fort Carré''. In 1959 the tower was added to the Register of Heritage Sites, and reconstruction of the fortress began.

History

Following the Teutonic annexation Gdańsk, in the fourteenth century, a wooden fortress stood by the mouth of the river

, flowing into the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

; which was burnt down by a

Hussite file:Hussitenkriege.tif, upright=1.2, Battle between Hussites (left) and Crusades#Campaigns against heretics and schismatics, Catholic crusaders in the 15th century file:The Bohemian Realm during the Hussite Wars.png, upright=1.2, The Lands of the ...

Sirotci raid, in September 1433. In 1482, a

tower was built in place of the former fortress. The tower was assigned to control the passage of ships, traveling to and from the

's main port city of

. The Wisłoujście Fortress was target for military campaigns. In 1577 the fortress was besieged several times by Stefan Batory, inconclusively, during the

Battle of Oliwa The Battle of Oliwa, also known as the Battle of Oliva or the Battle of Gdańsk Roadstead, was a naval battle that took place on 28 November, 1627, slightly north of the port of Gdańsk off of the coast of the village of Oliva during the Polish ...

(1627), when the fortress was cannonaded by a Swedish fleet; in 1734 by

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

, in 1793 by

Prussian Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, the House of Hohenzoll ...

, in 1807 by

Napoleonic Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led a series of mi ...

, and once again in 1814 by Prussian fleets. Between 1622-1629 the fortress was known as ''Latarnia'' (''Lighthouse'', Polish), under the name of a fortress - while actually being a naval base of the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

. On the night of 5–6 July 1628 the fortress was attacked with artillery fire, from a Swedish fleet traveling from Wisłoujście, into the fortress, sinking the vessel ''Złoty Lew'' (''Golden Lion'', Polish), and a

galleon Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships developed in Spain and Portugal. They were first used as armed cargo carriers by Europe, Europeans from the 16th to 18th centuries during the Age of Sail, and they were the principal vessels dr ...

. After the

Second Partition of Poland The 1793 Second Partition of Poland was the second of partitions of Poland, three partitions (or partial annexations) that ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by 1795. The second partition (politics), partition occurred i ...

, the fortress came under Prussian control, and from the 1820s it served as a prison, mainly for Polish political prisoners, including members of the

resistance movement A resistance movement is an organized group of people that tries to resist or try to overthrow a government or an occupying power, causing disruption and unrest in civil order and stability. Such a movement may seek to achieve its goals through ei ...

, protesters, insurgents of the

November November is the eleventh and penultimate month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 30 days. November was the ninth month of the calendar of Romulus . November retained its name (from the Latin ''novem'' meaning " ...

and

January January is the first month of the year in the Julian calendar, Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. The first day of the month is known as New Year's Day. It is, on average, the coldest month of the year within most of the No ...

uprisings and refugees from the

Russian Partition The Russian Partition (), sometimes called Russian Poland, constituted the former territories of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that were annexed by the Russian Empire in the course of late-18th-century Partitions of Poland. The Russian ac ...

of Poland fleeing conscription into the Russian Army. Among the prisoners were Karol Marcinkowski, Gustaw Potworowski, Walenty Stefański and General Józef Szymanowski.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wisloujscie Fortress Buildings and structures in Gdańsk Forts in Poland Buildings and structures completed in 1308 Round towers Rebuilt buildings and structures in Gdańsk