Bolków Castle

Bolków Castle

The first mentions of the Bolków Castle are from the 18th century. Its construction was related to the strengthening by the Świdnica-Jawór Piasts of the passage between the Czech Republic and Silesia. The initially raised fortress was gradually enlarged over the space of centuries. A watchful eye of an architecture lover will surely notice an infrequent shape of the tower in the castle body – with the so-called beak. This solution was targeted at limiting the destructive force of round shots. The tower diameter amounts to 12 meters. Its walls narrow down upwards. They are 4.5 thick at the basis. In mid-16th century, the castle was built under the supervision of architect Jakub Parry, Italian architect from the Lombardy. The fortress obtained two courtyards which were accompanied by walls and bastions. The castle was built in a hardly-accessible spot, on the slope of a hill falling sharply downwards towards the valley bottom where the Nysa Szalona river flows. From the other side, the castle walls are adjacent to the city. The castle tower together with the Attica is 25 meters high thanks to which amazing views may be appreciated from its top on the neighbouring Rudawy Janowickie and the Karkonosze Mountains.

The historians state that for almost 100 years the castle performed the function of a treasury which was subsequently moved to Prague. The stories from subsequent centuries about reportedly hidden treasures in the castle contributed to numerous devastations performed, among others, by the soldiers of Napoleonic wars. At the beginning of the 18th century the castle was purchased from the Zedlitz family by the Cistercians from Krzeszów and subsequently – the building which started to fall into ruins – was taken over by Prussia. At the end of the 19th century the castle walls started to serve as a source of building material for the local inhabitants. Its tourist potential was discovered at the beginning of the 20th century.

After World War II it was handed over for museum purposes. Currently, it is a branch of the Karkonosze Museum in Jelenia Góra. It functions as the Bolków Castle Museum. The display rooms were arranged in the renaissance Women House.