Poland · 16th century
Chudów Castle ranks #5,372 of 9,040 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #199 of the 397 mapped in Poland. Founded c. 1530, it is older than 40% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 887 atlas entries founded in the 16th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,151 times in the last 60 days, more than 54% of the atlas. 3 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Gliwice, 11 km away. See how Poland compares in the castle statistics.
Chudów Castle – the ruins of a Renaissance castle in Chudów from the 1530s, erected by the nobleman Jan Saszowski of Gierałtowice (also Gierałtowski of Gierałtowice, of the House of the Saszowskis of the Saszor coat of arms) on the site of a wooden defensive tower. The structure is built of stone and brick, originally on a rectangular plan, with a central courtyard with cloisters and a well. The complex had two three-storey residential buildings, covered with high gabled roofs, and a quadrangular five-storey tower, covered with a high hipped roof, with the main entrance from the south-west with a wooden bridge over the castle moat. A sixth storey was added during the 19th-century rebuilding carried out by the then owner of the castle, Alexander von Bally. In 1874 the castle burned down.
In 1995 the "Zamek Chudów" Foundation was established, whose founder and first president was Andrzej Sośnierz. After taking over the site in 1999 the foundation began reconstruction and excavation work. By 2004 the castle tower had been rebuilt and roofed; it now houses the museum of the castle in Chudów, presenting artefacts obtained during archaeological research at the site. The walls around the courtyard were also raised and the gates renovated. Archival research was also undertaken, as a result of which publications on the history of the castle appeared under the imprint of the publishing house run by the foundation.
From 1996 onwards open-air cultural and educational events (Meetings at the Castle in Chudów) have been organised on the castle grounds, including historical re-enactments, rallies, concerts, film screenings and cabaret performances. The showpiece and oldest element of the Meetings is the August Medieval Fair.
About 150 metres from the castle grows the oldest black poplar in Poland, called Tekla.
Machine-translated from “Zamek w Chudowie” on the Polish Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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