Klodzko Old Town

Klodzko sits on a hill in a basin surrounded by mountains, which is why it was fortified so heavily: the Prussians built one of the largest fortresses in Central Europe over the town from the 1740s, a bastioned complex with casemates and mine galleries running under the hill, and it survives largely intact and open, with tours through the tunnels. Under the town itself is a second system, medieval merchants' cellars on several levels connected into an underground route six hundred metres long that visitors walk. The old town climbs steeply from the river to the fortress gate, and at the bottom is the Gothic bridge of St John, built in 1390 in stone with baroque statues added later, which is often compared to the Charles Bridge in Prague and is genuinely of the same family. The parish church has heavy baroque furnishing over Gothic vaults. The town has been Bohemian, Austrian, Prussian and Polish.

What you actually see

• A Prussian fortress - one of the largest in Central Europe, with mine galleries under it.
• The underground route - six hundred metres of connected medieval cellars.
• The 1390 stone bridge - Gothic, with baroque statues, over the Mlynowka.
• A steep old town - climbing from the river to the fortress gate.

When to go

April to October. A day.

Honest expectations

The fortress and the tunnels are separate tickets and separate tours. Underground routes are cold and involve low passages. The climb through town is genuinely steep. Some fortress areas are unrestored.

Nearby

Wambierzyce is east; the Table Mountains are south-west.