Nowy Sącz Castle

The Nowy Sącz Royal Castle is a mediaeval castle in the city of Nowy Sącz in Poland. The partially restored ruins of the castle date back to the 14th century during the reign of Casimir III the Great.

The edifice was built by king Casimir the Great in 1350–1360 on a slope within the fortifications of Nowy Sącz, at the confluence of two rivers Dunajec and Kamienica. Initially the castle had two corner towers, a keep and a residential building. The structure was separated from the city by a moat and a wall.

Among the notable inhabitants were king Louis I of Hungary and Saint Queen Jadwiga of Anjou. A frequent visitor to the castle was Jogaila (king Władysław Jagiełło). In the following centuries the castle hosted fewer Polish monarchs and became the seat of local starosta. Between 1611 and 1615 the castle was reconstructed in the mannerist style for Sebastian and Stanisław Lubomirski according to design by Maciej Trapola. The castle had already 40 well equipped rooms at that time. During the Deluge in 1655 the castle was almost completely destroyed by Swedish-Brandenburgian troops. Since that time, the uninhabited building began to fall into disrepair.

The structure was destroyed again in 1945, at the end of World War II, when it was used as a German ammunition store and was the site of mass executions. There are also the remains of the city walls nearby.

Text adapted from “Nowy Sącz Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Nowy Sącz Castle ranks #2,561 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #88 of the 366 mapped in Poland. Founded 1350, it is older than 57% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 582 atlas entries founded in the 14th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,252 times in the last 60 days, more than 54% of the atlas. 4 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Nowy Sącz, 1 km away. See how Poland compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗