Krasiczyn Castle

Krasiczyn was built between 1592 and 1633 for the Krasicki family and its plan is a piece of argument in stone: a square around a courtyard with a tower at each corner, and each tower given a meaning and a form to match - the Divine Tower with a dome and a chapel in it, the Papal Tower with a round crown, the Royal Tower with a crenellated coronet, and the Noble Tower with a cupola, so that the hierarchy of the world is stated in the order they are named. The walls are covered in sgraffito, scraped decoration in two layers of plaster, running to some seven hundred metres of medallion portraits of emperors, popes and Polish kings, along with hunting and biblical scenes - one of the largest surviving sgraffito programmes in Europe. Around it is a park of about seventeen hectares with old trees planted, by tradition, for the birth of each child of the house.

What you actually see

• Four meaningful towers - God, the pope, the king and the nobility, each shaped for it.
• Seven hundred metres of sgraffito - medallion portraits and scenes scraped in plaster.
• A chapel in the Divine Tower - domed, at the corner of the square.
• A seventeen-hectare park - trees planted for the births of the family's children.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

Honest expectations

Interiors are largely empty - the castle was burned in 1852 and again during the wars, and the visit is about the exterior and the courtyard. Tours are guided and timed. Part of the complex is a hotel.

Nearby

Przemysl and its fortress ring are ten kilometres east.