Szydłów Town Walls

Szydłów is sometimes called the Polish Carcassonne, although its walls look nothing like the French original. They have no towers at all: just a plain stone ring with battlements that has enclosed the little town since the mid-14th century and still survives for about 700 metres. The walls are among the best-preserved medieval town fortifications in Poland, and the only surviving gate is the Kraków Gate.

History: founded by Casimir the Great

The walls were built in the reign of Casimir the Great, probably after the mid-14th century, together with the brick castle and St Ladislaus' church. The circuit was over 1,000 metres long and enclosed about 6.5 hectares; nearly two thirds of it survives today. Around the mid-15th century the walls were rebuilt and a barbican was added to the Kraków Gate. Another major rebuilding probably followed in the second half of the 16th century, linked to a privilege of King Sigismund Augustus from 1565 that assigned the town's income from alcohol sales to repairing the walls.

Then came decline. In 1630 mutinous, unpaid soldiers failed to breach the walls and set fire to the suburbs, and the Swedish invasion of 1655 – the "Deluge" – wrecked the town and castle. An inspection in 1789 recorded the walls as partly collapsed, and in 1822 the ruins of the walls and castle were put up for auction to be demolished. The Opatów Gate fell down in the second half of the 19th century. Rescue came in the 20th century, when local headmaster Jan Kaczorowski started raising funds to strengthen the wall.

What to see

• Kraków Gate – a square gate tower 8–9 m across with a pointed archway; its upper storeys were added in the 16th century in Renaissance style.
• The stretch by St Ladislaus' church – the longest section, over 200 metres, on both sides of the south-eastern corner of the town.
• The walls at the castle – on the west side the town wall also forms the outer wall of the castle courtyard.
• The stretch behind the synagogue – about 50 metres of wall at full height in the north of the town, the least altered by reconstruction.

Interesting facts

The wall is 1.7–1.8 m thick and 6–7 m high on the town side, including the battlements. It is built of sandstone. Researchers reject the popular belief that the church belfry was once a defensive tower – Szydłów's fortifications had no towers at all. A narrow opening in the wall, often described as a third gate, was most likely just a postern.

Tripto tip

The walls ring the old town and can be seen at any time, free of charge. Allow 1.5–2 hours for a walk around them taking in the Kraków Gate, St Ladislaus' church, the castle and the synagogue. The best photos of the crenellated walls are from outside, by the church, along the longest stretch. The castle's so-called Treasury (Skarbczyk) houses a regional museum.