Zamek Ogrodzieniec — Attraction in gmina Ogrodzieniec

When you first set sight on the castle, you'll immediately be impressed. You'll want to keep looking at it because it's just that beautiful. Then your attention is rerouted by the endless amount of people in yellow vests trying to get you to park in their parking lots. Some even wave glowsticks around. I can't blame the locals for wanting to earn a quick buck off tourists, but it was certainly a bit strange. Some of them even opened up their backyards for parking. We eventually entered a parking lot where we had to pay 5 EUR or 20 PLN, but I can imagine that the price varies per lot. We got out and headed towards the castle, but along the route there was a guy in an ice cream van saying something to us. Now, I don't speak Polish, but my limited knowledge of Czech has allowed me to understand a decent amount of what people are saying. This time, however, he said something that in Czech would translate to pigs, so I can imagine his confusion when I pulled a very confused face after his little sales talk. Anyways, we went further along the path before we were bombarded with stalls on either side of the road. Again, I can't blame locals for trying to earn some money, but I do have to wonder why 1 medieval castle should need around 5 ice cream vans, several stalls selling the same plushies and toys and multiple stalls selling food and drinks. One of them even sold toy machine guns, which is quite odd when you're visiting a medieval castle, where the best gun you were gonna get would only fire a single shot and most likely miss the target, if not blow up into your face. Anyways, we finally got to the ticket office, where there was a small queue but nothing too bad. We went up into the castle area and this was absolutely beautiful. The castle itself had a few shops, but the main event was ofcourse the castle itself. The route was clearly indicated, and took you along almost every inch of the castle. The stairs up to the tower were a bit crowded, but nothing you can really do about that. There were a few little rooms that showcased stuff, including a room dedicated to the Witcher with a very nice replica of his silver sword, if I'm correct in that. In another room there was a canon from the 1700's, which seemed to me to be able to still fire, but I wouldn't recommend firing such an old weapon, lest it blow up in your face. The castle itself is located on a rocky area, which the castle accentuates brilliantly. Even though the castle isn't that large, it seems like it is due to the terrain. Some parts of the castle were lost unfortunately, I would have liked to see a restored version of this castle, I reckon it would have been beautiful if done right. Right now, you can see they "restored" certain small areas with bricks, which I don't think is very historically accurate but I could be wrong in that. A lot of the stairs in the castle have been replaced with concrete or metal ones, which is fair seeing the horrible state of the one staircase they kept in place. When leaving the main castle, the larger area still surrounded by walls is also something you should look at. It features a beautiful rock formation and an old torture chamber. I would take the things on display there with a grain of salt though, seeing there's an iron maiden in this room which they tried to pass off as historically accurate, even though it was only invented in the victorian age, much later than the medieval era. Still, I'm no expert in medieval torture methods so maybe the rest all checks out. When we eventually left the castle, the queue for tickets was way longer. It seemed we had evaded the busy hours, fortunately. Also, before I forget, dogs are allowed to enter the castle, so bring them along if you want. In conclusion, I would definitely recommend you to visit this wonderful place, but it definitely gets one fewer star because of the exceptionally touristy area...

c1350 - 1370 - Construction of the castle on the initiative of King Casimir the Great

around 1370 - The castle becomes the property of Przedbor Brzezia coat of arms of Zador, Marshal of the Kingdom of Poland due to the granting of King Casimir the Great

c. 1386 - 1470 - The Włodek family from Chrabimowice, Sulima coat of arms, receive the castle from King Władysław Jagiełło. In the Boner era, the castle was made up of a three-story, one-bay tower on the eastern rock (high castle) and a one-bay building with four rooms on the southern rock (the present level of the knight's chambers, which houses, among others, the Castle Museum, the rooms of the powder magazine and the treasury). (called the Tower of Convicts) had a height of two storeys. The main entrance gate to the castle led through the gap between the rocks on the south side. From the north - unprotected by rocks - access to the castle was defended by a high wooden and earth rampart closing the...

This castle was built in the 14th century and is a part of the eagle nests trail of Castles and fortifications stretching from Krakow to Czestochowa In southeastern Poland. This castle was last modified and rebuilt in the past 20 years, as family photos dating from the 1990s show it in a more disrepaired state. The ingenious nature of this castle is its usage of the natural bedrock to create a natural fortification. There are some lead climbing routes for those interested in climbing some of the cool rock fortifications. This castle most recently featured in The Witcher Season 1. I Highly recommend this and the other Castles along the eagle nest trail to all castle enthusiasts. If you are planning on hitting every still standing castle on this route I suggest renting a car and making it a week long adventure. As we where only able to visit 2...