Checiny Castle

The castle above Checiny was built around 1300 on a narrow limestone ridge running east to west, which dictated its shape: a long thin enclosure with two round towers at the east end and a square one at the west, walls following the rock. It was a royal castle of some importance in the fourteenth century - the crown treasury was kept here at times, troops assembled below it before Grunwald, and it served as a place of confinement for royal women, including Adelaide of Hesse, wife of Kazimierz Wielki, who was kept here for years. It declined from the sixteenth century and has been a ruin since the eighteenth. Restoration has made the towers climbable and the views run over the Swietokrzyskie hills. The area around is marble country - the local limestone polishes and was used in churches and palaces across Poland - and the Raj cave with its stalactites is a few kilometres away.

What you actually see

• A ridge-shaped castle - long and narrow, with two round towers and one square.
• A royal treasury site - the crown treasure kept here at times in the fourteenth century.
• Climbable towers - views over the Swietokrzyskie hills.
• Marble country - the local limestone quarried and polished for churches across Poland.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

Honest expectations

The approach is a steep climb. It is a ruin with limited interpretation. The ridge is exposed and towers close in high wind. Weekend crowds come from Kielce.

Nearby

Raj cave is a few kilometres away; Kielce is north.