Byczyna Town Walls

In 1588, under one of Byczyna's gates, Archduke Maximilian Habsburg is said to have laid down his arms after being defeated by Jan Zamoyski's army in the struggle for the Polish throne. That gate still stands – as does almost the entire ring of walls around the old town. Byczyna is one of the few towns in Poland whose medieval fortifications survive almost intact, so a walk around them is a tour of a medieval town in under an hour.

History: stone first, then brick

The dating of the walls is not clear-cut. According to some studies, the first ring of stone wall with a dry moat was built as early as the mid-13th century and raised with brick in the mid-14th century; the town itself dates the present fortifications to the 15th–16th centuries. The walls follow an oval line, and sources give their length as 912 m or 950 m. They are built of stone and brick on foundations of glacial boulders, on average 5.5–6 m high and 1.3–1.7 m thick. To the north, marshes gave the town extra protection.

What to see

• The East Gate Tower, known as the Polish Gate (ul. Zamoyskiego) – 15th century, named because it faces the greater part of Poland. Its pyramid roof dates from the 1930s, after lightning destroyed the earlier top. It was under this gate – historians say – that Archduke Maximilian surrendered after losing the Battle of Byczyna on 24 January 1588.
• The West Gate Tower, known as the German Gate (ul. Okrężna) – also 15th century, stone below and brick above. Its pointed-arch passage was cut through the ground floor in the late 19th century, and narrow arrow slits can be seen above it.
• The Sand Tower (South Tower) on ul. Floriańska – added to strengthen the southern section, probably completed in the 16th century, with numerous loopholes.
• The moat on ul. Błonie – the surviving stretch joins the town park to the north. It was given its present shape in 1940, and trout have been farmed in it for years.

Interesting facts

The gates were once crowned with pyramid roofs and little turrets, known from old town seals – today the German Gate has only a makeshift cover. The town hall in the middle of the market square burned down in 1945; rebuilt, it reopened on 25 January 1968, the 380th anniversary of the victory over Maximilian. Since 2011 its tower has had a viewing platform that gives a good view of the line of the walls.

Tripto tip

• The walls are freely accessible at no charge – walk the full circuit along streets such as ul. Okrężna, Zamoyskiego, Floriańska and Błonie. Allow 45–60 minutes.
• Start at the Polish Gate and finish by the moat and the park on the north side, where the surviving moat merges into greenery.
• Climb the town hall tower to see the oval layout of the old town from above.
• Nearby: Byczyna's wooden knights' stronghold, built as a Polish-Czech training centre for knights.