Kaszana Tower in Trzebiatów

One night, as troops from neighbouring Gryfice prepared to storm Trzebiatów, a guard on the tower dropped a bowl of hot porridge straight onto the head of one of the attackers. The scalded man's scream roused the defenders and the town was saved — or so the legend goes, and it gave the Kaszana Tower (the "Porridge Tower") its name. This cylindrical brick tower, 21 metres high, is the best-known part of Trzebiatów's medieval walls.

History: from watchtower to powder store

The tower was built in the first half of the 14th century at a corner of the town walls to strengthen the defences and watch the approach from the Rega river. It was later used to store gunpowder, hence its other name, the Powder Tower. In the 15th century it was raised, in the early 19th century rebuilt and given a new roof, and in 1994 it was restored with new floors and stairs. Originally it was crowned by a turret with a brick cone, and below the roof ran a sentry walk, shown on an old engraving by Lubinus.

What to see

• The dungeon on the ground floor, 4.7 m high — now with a new entrance on the town side.
• The trace of the original entrance in a rectangular niche on the second storey, reached from the wall walk.
• Slit loopholes set irregularly on the second and third storeys.
• Corbels under the roof that once carried the sentry walk.
• The town walls — much of the roughly 2.5 km ring survives, and on the east side of town there are traces of the moat. None of the four town gates has survived.

Did you know?

Trzebiatów received its town charter in 1277 and still keeps its chessboard street layout: three streets run east–west and five north–south. The porridge legend lives on — every summer the town holds a Porridge Festival (Święto Kaszy). The tower is also a stop on the two-kilometre Elephant Trail, named after the elephant Hansken. Born in 1630 in Ceylon and portrayed by Rembrandt among others, she visited Pomerania between 1638 and 1640, and a four-metre sgraffito image of her and her trainer on a house by the market square was rediscovered in 1914.

Tripto tip

You can see the tower from outside at any time and free of charge. The interior is open during the summer holidays, and the monument is looked after by the Historyczny Trzebiatów "Chąśba" association — check the hours at the local tourist information before visiting. Allow 15–30 minutes for the tower and a stroll along the walls; the whole Elephant Trail, signposted with boards in Polish and German, takes about an hour and leads you to Hansken's portrait by the market square.