Fortifications

City Walls of Strzelce Opolskie

Strzelce Opolskie, whose history reaches back to the 13th century, was surrounded by walls about 1 kilometre long. The town lay on the trade route Wrocław–Opole–Kraków, and the course of that route determined the line of the defences: only 250 metres separated the Opole Gate in the west from the Kraków Gate in the east.

How the defence worked

The gates took the shape of a neck thrown across the moat, and from the south the role of fortification was played by the ducal castle, behind which stretched marshes — so no moat was dug on the southern and western sides. A deep ditch protected the north and east. The walls ran from the Kraków Gate to the 15th-century tower by the parish church, then across the church garden to the Opole Gate and along the Corpus Christi church up to the castle.

The tower-turned-belfry

A relic of the Middle Ages is the Gothic tower, rebuilt as a belfry in the 17th century and now restored and well kept. It is built of limestone with a brick gable; the base is rectangular while the upper storeys are octagonal. Plank doors protect the entrances, and with a bit of luck you can look inside.

What to see and where

Fragments of the wall survive opposite the evangelical Corpus Christi church on Opolska street, run towards the castle and along Kościuszki street, enclosing the church of St Lawrence; sections near the castle have been partly reconstructed. In 1816–1825 the widening of the Opole–Strzelce–Bytom road permanently cut through the circuit. The walls can be viewed from outside at any time, free of charge.