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 one of the earliest examples of the idea in this part of Europe and it is the shape people photograph. The castle was rebuilt in the sixteenth century with bastions and Renaissance detail, damaged in the Thirty Years War, and abandoned 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.

What you actually see

• 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.

Honest expectations

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 north-east; Jelenia Gora is west.