Paczków Town Walls

Paczków is known as the Polish Carcassonne, because few towns in the country have kept such a complete ring of medieval walls. An oval of fortifications about 1,200 metres long surrounds the old town with its grid of streets, and of the 24 original towers no fewer than 19 survive. Since 13 November 2012 the old town with its fortification system has been a Monument of History, Poland's top heritage designation.

History: from ramparts to a stone ring

Paczków, founded around 1300, lay on a border from the start, so it was first given timber-and-earth defences. The building of stone walls may have been prompted by the events of 1318, when an armed band of robbers broke into the town – even into the church – and killed several people during a service. Around 1341–1376 Bishop Przecław of Pogorzela surrounded the town with its first ring of stone walls.

After the Hussite raid of 1428 the circuit was badly damaged. From 1514 Bishop Jan Turzo led a lengthy rebuilding that lasted until the mid-16th century – this created the layout of walls, gates and towers you see today. Paradoxically, it was saved by the economic stagnation of the 17th and 18th centuries and by the fact that the Napoleonic wars passed the town by. Demolitions came only in the 19th century: in 1846 the outer wall disappeared, a year later the barbicans and bridges, and the moat was filled in.

What to see

• Walls of glacial erratic stone – originally crenellated, about 7 m high and later raised to 9 m. The longest gaps in the circuit are in the western and southern parts of the Old Town.
• Open-backed towers – semicircular and open towards the town; of the 24 (20 semicircular and 4 corner towers), 19 have survived. In the early 16th century they were raised and adapted for firearms.
• Gate towers: the Wrocław Gate (Lower Gate), decorated with a triple band of blind arches from the second half of the 15th century, the Kłodzko Gate (Upper Gate), the Ząbkowice Gate (Bath Gate) and the Nysa Gate, added in the 16th century at the latest.
• The wall-top gallery – after restoration in 2007–2013 a 77-metre stretch with a covered timber walkway on top of the wall was opened to visitors.

Did you know

In the 15th century the north side of the town was reinforced with a second, outer wall, built 10 m in front of the main one and about 4 m high; a water-filled moat ran between them. The walls had help from nature: Paczków stands on a high escarpment above the Kamienna river, and the Nysa Kłodzka protected it from the north. Within the walls stands the Church of St John the Evangelist, regarded as one of the most famous fortified churches in Central Europe.

Tripto tips

• Walk: a circuit of the whole oval takes about an hour; follow the inner street along the wall, then step outside to see the towers from the moat side.
• Best views: the town-hall tower on the market square, dating from the mid-16th century, shows the whole ring of walls at once – check access times at the tourist information office at ul. Wojska Polskiego 23.
• Combine with: Paczków's Gas Industry Museum and the 18th-century half-timbered Executioner's House, while the castle town of Otmuchów is close by.
• Access: the walls and towers can be viewed for free from the streets; the wall-top gallery may have seasonal opening times.