Darlowo Castle

Darlowo castle was built in the 1350s for the dukes of Pomerania on an island between arms of the Wieprza, and its story turns on one man. Eric of Pomerania, born in this town about 1382, was adopted as heir by Margaret I and became king of Denmark, Sweden and Norway under the Kalmar Union, ruling the whole of Scandinavia for decades before being deposed. He spent years afterwards as a lord on Gotland, which his opponents described as piracy, and then returned to Darlowo, where he lived out his life in this castle and was buried in the town church of St Mary in 1459 - his sarcophagus is there. The castle is now the regional museum with an interior including a knights' hall and collections of Pomeranian material and non-European art. The town has an unusual town hall, a chapel of St Gertrude that is twelve-sided, and a small port a few kilometres north at Darlowko.

History

Building began in 1352 under Duke Bogislaw V and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Casimir the Great, and although it was only a secondary residence of the House of Pomerania, the castle was enlarged in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Its greatest expansion came under Eric of Pomerania, who rebuilt it on the model of his earlier residence, Kronborg, and added a second line of defence in dikes around it; Duke Bogislaw X later added a new wing (Wikipedia, Darłowo Castle).

What's there

• A ducal castle of the 1350s - on an island between arms of the Wieprza.
• Eric of Pomerania's retirement - the Scandinavian king who came home here.
• His sarcophagus - in the town church of St Mary.
• A twelve-sided chapel - St Gertrude's, on the edge of town.

When to go

May to September. Half a day.

Things to know

The museum is regional in scale and the labelling is mostly Polish. Closed Mondays outside high season. The town is quiet; the beach resort at Darlowko is a few kilometres away and busy in summer.

Nearby

Darlowko and the beach are north; Slupsk is east.

Key facts