Bolkow Castle

Bolkow was built from the thirteenth century by the Piast dukes of Swidnica-Jawor and its distinctive feature is the keep: a tower whose plan comes to a point, the wedge facing the direction an attacker would approach from, so that stone shot would glance off rather than strike square. It is probably one of only two surviving towers of this kind in Poland, and it is the shape people photograph. The castle was rebuilt in the sixteenth century with bastions and Renaissance detail, besieged in the Thirty Years War, left uninhabited from 1703 and allowed to fall into ruin in the nineteenth century; what stands is a stabilised ruin with the tower climbable and a museum in the surviving rooms. Since the 1990s it has hosted Castle Party, one of the larger gothic and dark independent music festivals in Europe, held over several days each July in and around the walls, which fills the small town completely.

History

The castle is first mentioned in 1277 by Duke Bolesław II of Legnica, who built it, and his son Bolko I of Świdnica and Jawor expanded it to watch the passes from Bohemia into Silesia; in 1392 it passed to the Bohemian kings. In 1539-1540 the Lombard architect Jakub Parr rebuilt and enlarged it with courtyards, walls and bastions, the Cistercians of Krzeszów bought it in 1703, after which no one lived in it, and from 1810 it belonged to the Prussian state and fell into ruin (Wikipedia, Bolków Castle).

Highlights

• A wedge-plan keep - the point turned towards attack to deflect stone shot.
• Renaissance bastion work - sixteenth-century additions over the Piast castle.
• A climbable tower - the main viewpoint over the town and hills.
• Castle Party in July - a large gothic music festival inside the walls.

When to go

April to October; avoid festival week unless attending. Half a day.

Good to know

It is a ruin with a small museum, not a furnished castle. The site closes to ordinary visitors during the July festival. Tower stairs are steep. The town below has limited services.

Nearby

Ksiaz castle is south-east; Jelenia Gora is west.

Key facts