Nidzica Castle

Nidzica castle was built around 1370-1400 as a Teutonic administrative seat on the southern border of the Order's state, and it takes the standard form of the smaller Prussian castles: a rectangular block around a courtyard with a gate flanked by two square towers, brick on a fieldstone base, on a hill above the town and the Nida valley. It was rebuilt in the nineteenth century in a romantic manner after long neglect, gutted in 1945 and reconstructed from the 1960s, so what stands is faithful in outline and modern in fabric. It now works as a town cultural centre with a small museum, a library, a hotel and a restaurant in it, which keeps the place in use rather than as a monument. The twin-towered gate front is the image the town uses. Below in the town are fragments of the medieval wall and a Gothic parish church.

What you actually see

• Twin gate towers - the square-towered front of a Teutonic border castle.
• A courtyard block - brick over fieldstone, in the standard Prussian plan.
• Postwar reconstruction - faithful in outline, modern in fabric.
• A working cultural centre - museum, library and hotel inside the walls.

When to go

April to October. Two hours.

Honest expectations

Most of the fabric is post-1960 rebuilding. The museum is small. Access depends on events using the halls. The town has limited other interest.

Nearby

Olsztynek open-air museum is north; Dzialdowo is west.