The Eagles' Nests - on the trail of polish medieval fortresses

In my last post, I mentioned the tourist trail of the Eagles' Nests, which you can walk from Krakow to Częstochowa. Its length is about 160 km. It coincides with the line of defensive fortresses built in the 14th century on the border between Poland and Silesia. In those days, the principalities of Silesia were under Czech rule, so the system of fortresses built by the Polish King Casimir the Great protected the border of the Polish kingdom. Unfortunately, we "argued" with the Czechs a bit about Silesia then.

The castles were to fulfill a defensive function, so they were built on high, hard-to-reach limestone rocks. Hence the name of the entire system: Eagle Nests; it consisted of about 30 royal and private castles and several watchtowers. Most of them can still be admired today, mainly in the form of picturesque ruins. One of them has been fully rebuilt; it is Pieskowa Skała Castle, located in the northern part of Ojców National Park. In 600 years of existence, it has changed from an austere medieval fortress into a beautiful Renaissance residence.

Pieskowa Skała Castle dominates the picturesque valley of the Prądnik River. Approaching it, we can first see one of the most recognizable rock formations in Poland called the Hercules Club. It stands on a ledge about 10 meters high; the rock itself is about 25 meters high.

A walking path winds around the rock, leading to the castle, which stands on a high rock just above the street.

It is how it looks from the road level, and from this perspective, it makes a great impression.

After climbing up (stairs, of course 😄), we can see the outer walls. See how the building is combined with the rock.

We enter the outer courtyard through the gate. Immediately a gothic tower (one of two in the castle) drew my attention. The builders provided it with arrowslits arranged over ten levels to accommodate the needs of early artillery.

Apart from the few remains of the fortress, we will find rather lovely nooks here.

In the courtyard, there is a model of the castle (including a Hercules Club 😉).

Fortifications probably existed in this area at the beginning of the 13th century. One hundred years later, King Casimir the Great ordered the construction of Pieskowa Skała in their place. In the 16th century, reconstruction began in the fashionable Italian style, inspired by the renovation of the royal castle in Wawel.

Within several hundred years, the castle fell into decline due to various misfortunes. The 19th century was the worst when there were several fires and devastation of the palace interiors. The final nail in the coffin was when the communists nationalized it and converted it into farm buildings after the war. Fortunately, in 1950 the Ministry of Culture and Art took over the castle, and the reconstruction works began. The renovation lasted twenty years; unfortunately, the interior furnishings couldn't be recovered or reconstructed. So it was decided to organize a museum here under the tutelage of the Wawel Royal Castle. What we can see today is the result of that hard work.

Let us enter the inner courtyard.

I was most interested in the original well from the 14th century. There was a mechanism that made it possible to draw large amounts of water at once.

The well was carved in solid rock to a depth of about 50 meters. Interestingly, there is still water at its bottom! You can't see it in the photo below, but it was there; you have to take my word for it :)

From the inner courtyard, we can go through a small wicket to the highest part of the hill. It is a kind of rocky headland on which a tall tower once stood, and this part was called the upper castle. Today we call this part Dorothy's Rock, in honor of the legend of the unfaithful owner's wife. Legend has it that he had her walled up alive in the basement under the tower, and since then, her spirit appears as the White Lady. I think that every self-respecting castle has its own White Lady :)

For me, Dorothy's Rock looks like the bow of an enormous ship, rising above the green sea of trees.

The views from this place are lovely!

Here you can realize that the castle was protected from almost all sides by vertical, several dozen-meter-high rocks.

After returning to the inner courtyard, I visited the corridor carved in the rock. It was connecting the defensive towers. Again you can see how the rock blends with the walls.

At the end of the tour, I entered the observation deck at the top of the bastion fortification added in the 17th century. It offers a view of the outer courtyard, the castle, and the surrounding area.