Castle ruins Melsztyn

Monuments

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Melsztyn, 32-840 Melsztyn Tourist region: Pogórza

Above the treetops, high on a hill above the Dunajec Valley, rises the mighty square tower of the knight's castle in Melsztyn near Zakliczyn. A stronghold from the 14th century, it was destroyed in the 18th century during the battles of the Confederates of Bar and then looted by Russian troops. From the castle walls, you will see the Dunajec River, Zakliczyn, and the village of Tropie.

On the banks of the Dunajec River rise the majestic ruins of the Melsztyn Castle. Its name probably derives from the German word for a mill wheel – der mühlstein. There used to be a lot of mills in the area, and the German word has been polonised.

The fortified seat on the hill was built by the castellan of Kraków, Spycimir Leliwita, in 1347. Until the beginning of the 16th century, it was the residence of the Leliwit Melsztyński family. The castle occupied an elongated, narrow hilltop with a steep slope rising more than 40 metres above the river. It was a walled residential building on an irregular polygonal plan with a round tower, a cistern and outbuildings. In 1362, the Bishop of Kraków, Jan Bodzenta, erected the castle's Chapel of the Holy Spirit.

At the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries, a large, Gothic, five-storey donjon made of stone with an upper part made of brick was built on a rectangular plan measuring 10.5 x 15 metres. It served a defensive and residential function, as evidenced by the gun ports in the lower floors. The top two floors had a residential/residential function, as evidenced by large windows and the traces of plaster. There was also a fourth-storey wooden latrine bay supported by stone brackets. The old and new castles were enclosed and connected by a defensive wall running along the edge of the elongated top of the mountain. The entrance led through a gate tower with a drawbridge thrown over the moat. In the 15th century, the castle was the centre of the Hussite movement, which resulted in the construction of earthwork fortifications and strengthening the defence of the entrance gate. In 1511, Jan Melsztyński sold the castle to the castellan of Wiślica, Mikołaj Jordan.

Around 1546, Spytek Wawrzyniec Jordan rebuilt the Gothic castle into a Renaissance magnate's residence. At that time, a Renaissance wall with loopholes – embrasures for firing weapons – which has been preserved to this day, was built in the central part of the castle. In the 17th century, the castle repelled an attack by the Swedes. In the 17th–18th centuries, through family ties, the residence passed into the hands of the Tarło and Lanckoroński families and remained unchanged until the end of the 18th century. In 1770, it was destroyed by the Bar Confederates, then burned down by the Russian army, and since then the castle has sat in ruins. Between 1789 and 1796, what remained of it after being demolished was taken by people who used it for building material. In 1846, the Gothic donjon collapsed, and in 1879–1885, thanks to the efforts of Karol Lanckoroński, the remains were secured, and a tourist hostel was built in the castle courtyard. In 1886, the castle ceased to be owned by the Lanckorońskis.

In 2008, the ruins were taken over by the municipal authorities, and in 2017, archaeological and conservation work was carried out on the site. Two walls of the Gothic donjon of almost the original height of about 25 metres have survived to the present day, with a Gothic window frame and a rafter supporting the bay window, along with fragments of various brick and stone walls and some with loopholes. The staircase leading to the tower and the room where the exhibition hall is planned were also discovered. In the middle of the castle there is a sinkhole that appeared after the collapse of the vault of a water cistern located on the lower floor. The earthen fortifications and moat are barely visible, and the cellar entrances have only been partially excavated. The partial restoration of the ruins took from 2018 to 2023, during which time the medieval donjon with all five floors was rebuilt. The tower affords visitors views of the Dunajec Valley, the Foothills and the Beskid Sądecki and Beskid Wyspowy. In 2022, the Zakliczyn municipality took over ownership of the castle from the State Forests. Work is currently (early 2024) continuing on the restoration of the donjon buttress, which will be open to tourists.