Fortifications

Defensive Walls in Paczków

Paczków in Opole Silesia is called the Polish Carcassonne — and for good reason. Stone walls from the 14th century encircle the town in a regular oval 1,200 metres long, rising in places to 7 metres, and of the original 24 bastions as many as 19 survive. It is one of the most complete medieval defensive circuits in Poland.

Shell bastions

The surviving shell bastions — semicircular, open towards the town — rank among the best-preserved monuments of their kind in the country. Together with the rough-stone walls they form a legible, almost complete circuit on which the medieval art of fortification can be read.

Gate towers

Three towers are the remains of gate buildings. The Wrocław Tower (Lower), from the 14th century, is 30 metres tall and has a viewing terrace (open May–September, 10.00–18.00). The Kłodzko Tower (Upper), from the turn of the 14th century, measures about 22 m, and the Ząbkowice (Bathhouse) Tower from the same period about 27 m. The fourth, the Nysa Gate, is a Renaissance structure from the 16th century; next to it a covered wooden walkway with viewing platforms and a hoarding runs along the wall crown.

Walking the wall crown

You can walk the walls: the route runs about 7 metres above the ground, on a walkway nearly 1.5 m wide. On successive bastions wooden stairs lead up to galleries and platforms — 13.5 m and then 15.5 m above the ground; the last stop is a bastion with a covered, semicircular gallery.