Town Walls of Świdnica

In the Middle Ages Świdnica was the capital of the Duchy of Świdnica-Jawor, and for centuries it sat behind one of the strongest rings of walls in Silesia. By the 17th century the circuit had three lines of defences, seven gates and more than 70 towers. What survives today is scattered: a bastion on Basztowa Street, a Gothic gate chapel, and stretches of wall on Aleja Niepodległości and Wrocławska Street. Walking from one relic to the next is a good way to grasp how large the town once was.

History: from guard duty to a triple ring

The first record of wall building is tied to Henry IV Probus, Duke of Wrocław, who obliged the Jews of Świdnica to stand guard and to build the fortifications. Under Bolko I the Strict (1290–1301) the walls were already at least partly in place, and they were extended in the 14th century. The circuit was about 2.3 km long and followed today's Żeromskiego, Muzealna, Konopnickiej, 1 Maja and Wrocławska streets and Aleja Niepodległości. At first there were probably only two gates – the Dzierżoniów (later Lower) Gate and the Strzegom Gate – but by the 14th century there were seven. The seventh, the St Nicholas Gate, was cut through in 1360; it was also called the School Gate because pupils of the parish school who lived in the suburb used it.

The walls proved their worth in 1429, when the townspeople held off the Hussites. A second line was probably built in the 14th century, and the oldest mention of a bastion dates from 1463. A description of the town from 1597 already speaks of a triple stone wall, which also appears on a view of Świdnica from 1623.

Curious facts

• The gates were shut at six in the evening to the sound of a bell. Carts that arrived late spent the night in inns along the approach roads.
• In 1667 lightning struck a tower used to store gunpowder. The tower, about 34 m tall with walls 2.3 m thick, blew up.
• Every gate had a small church or chapel next to it. Only one survived: St Barbara's Chapel.

From fortress to demolition

In the 18th century the Prussians turned Świdnica into a fortress and rebuilt the medieval walls: an earth rampart with a moat was raised along one line, and most towers were removed, leaving only the towers and bastions at the gates. The town was besieged five times, the last time in 1807 by Napoleon's troops. After Świdnica was declared an open town in 1866, the fortifications were demolished from 1 May 1867 until the end of the 19th century.

What to see

• Strzegom Gate bastion on Basztowa Street – already shown on the 1623 plan; the gate itself (moved to this spot in 1443) is gone.
• St Barbara's Chapel right next to the bastion – first mentioned in 1399, the present building dates from 1501. From 1741 it was a Protestant garrison church, from 1818 an arsenal. Badly weathered reliefs dated 1513 survive at the entrance, with 16th-century wall paintings in the chancel. Today it houses the NOT engineering association.
• Stretches of wall on Wrocławska Street and Aleja Niepodległości – probably from the earliest phase, around 1300. On Aleja Niepodległości you can also see a section of the Prussian rampart with the rebuilt St Nicholas Gate, the only gate that survives.
• Moat at the former Hood Gate near St Margaret's Square – excavated in 2006, with its caponier intact.
• Renaissance portal of 1537 at the former Capuchin friary – a remnant of the ducal castle, handed to the order in 1676; the friars pulled the castle down and built their friary and church in its place.

Tripto tips

The relics are a few hundred metres apart, so the full loop takes 1–1.5 hours. Start at the bastion on Basztowa Street and finish on Aleja Niepodległości, close to the cathedral. Everything is viewed from outside, with no tickets. Combine the walk with the Market Square and the Church of Peace to see where the medieval town ended and the suburbs began.