Castle in Myślenice: A Medieval Royal Customs and Watch Post
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 3.6
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Poland
- Primary era
- Medieval
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- Kingdom of Poland
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page6 sections
History
Castle in Myślenice is a medieval royal castle in Myślenice, Poland, used during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Its builder is unknown, but the stronghold occupied a strategic position above the Raba River and the route linking Kraków with Hungary.
Royal stronghold and customs post
The first written reference to the castle dates from 1342, when it included a customs chamber for collecting fees from merchants moving goods along the Kraków–Hungary route. Records from 1399 mention burgraves, officials responsible for administering and guarding a castle or fortified district.
The castle probably served as a guard post overlooking the Raba. It belonged to the local defensive system known as the Myślenice defenses, which protected the trade route through a network that also included smaller fortified watch posts at Osieczany and Stróża. Dobczyce Castle stood farther downstream on the Raba.
Decline and later memory
By the sixteenth century, the castle had fallen into ruin. Its tower was apparently destroyed by an explosion, although the date and circumstances are unknown. During this period, the Polish writer and poet Mikołaj Rej stayed at the castle as a guest of Spytek Wawrzyniec Jordan, a nobleman and patron, and wrote part of The Life of an Honest Man there.
Gabriel Leńczyk of the Archaeological Museum in Kraków carried out archaeological test excavations in 1957. The surviving tower fragments were entered in Poland’s heritage register under number A-448 on 17 October 1977. The ruins and their surroundings are protected within the 1.35-hectare Zamczysko nad Rabą landscape reserve.
Remains
Hilltop defenses
The ruins stand on the right bank of the Raba, on a projecting slope of Mount Ukleina known as Zamczysko, at approximately 380 metres above sea level. In the medieval period, two ditches and an earthen rampart separated the hilltop from the mountain ridge, strengthening the site’s natural defensive position.
Tower and open yard
The principal structure was a massive cylindrical stone tower dating to the thirteenth or fourteenth century. It measured approximately 10 to 10.2 metres across externally, while its interior diameter was about 2 to 2.5 metres. An irregular open yard, approximately 11 by 17 metres, lay on the river-facing side of the tower.
Only scattered fragments of the tower survive. Large stone blocks lie across the mountain slope and within the open yard, which are now densely overgrown with trees.
