Gniew Castle

Gniew was the Teutonic Order's main stronghold on the left bank of the Vistula, built from the 1290s as a square brick castle with four wings, a courtyard, corner towers and a keep, and it commanded the river crossing. After the Order it was a Polish starosty - Jan Sobieski held it before he was king and built a baroque palace for his wife Marysienka on the terrace below. The castle burned in 1921 when it was in use as a prison and stood ruinous until reconstruction from the 1970s, so much of what stands is twentieth-century brickwork on medieval foundations. It is now run as a hotel, museum and events venue, with a heavy programme of tournaments, re-enactment and living history through the summer, which the castle has done since the 1990s and which is its main identity now. The town below has a small arcaded market square on the escarpment.

What you actually see

• A square Teutonic plan - four wings around a courtyard with corner towers.
• Marysienka's palace - Sobieski's baroque house on the terrace below.
• Reconstruction after 1921 - much of the fabric rebuilt over medieval foundations.
• Summer re-enactment - tournaments and living history through the season.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

Honest expectations

Much of the castle is modern rebuilding, not surviving fabric. Hotel and event use closes areas. Re-enactment weekends are busy and change the ticketing. The town is quiet with few services.

Nearby

Kwidzyn is east across the river; Pelplin is north.