Bolczów Castle

Bolczów does not sit on a rock – it is built into one. Its medieval builders joined two granite crags at about 561 m above sea level with walls, creating a small courtyard with natural "towers" already in place. The ruins in the Rudawy Janowickie hills, south of Janowice Wielkie, are among the most atmospheric rock castles in the Sudetes, and since 2025 they have been surrounded by a nature reserve.

History: from robber knights to the Swedes

The castle is attributed to Clericus Bolze (Bolcze), a courtier of Duke Bolko II the Small, around 1375. Its owner sided with the Hussites, and the hard-to-reach fortress became a base for robber knights. In the first half of the 15th century it was destroyed during fighting between the burghers of Wrocław and Świdnica and the Hussites.

Rebuilding followed in 1517–1518, probably on the initiative of Hans Dippold von Burghaus, adding a courtyard, a defensive tower in the southern corner and loopholes. From 1537 to 1543 the castle belonged to Justus Ludwik Decjusz, secretary to the Polish King Sigismund the Old, who added a barbican, bastions and a dry moat and adapted the walls for firearms. Karl von Mederacke continued the expansion until 1550, and in 1562 the brothers Hans and Franz Heilmann acquired the castle together with Janowice and Miedzianka.

During the Thirty Years' War the Swedes occupied the castle. When they left in December 1645, they set fire to the living quarters, and Bolczów has been a ruin ever since. In the 19th century it became a destination for Romantic excursions: King Frederick William III visited in 1824, and in 1848 Count Stolberg-Wernigerode had a small Swiss-style inn built on the old foundations, which served as a hostel until 1945.

What to see

The ruins fall into three main parts, and the original complex also had a round chapel, a kitchen with a bakery and a water cistern. On site you will find:

• The medieval castle – sections of the curtain wall, the residential building (20 × 7.8 m, with a cellar) and a square tower merged with the rocks.
• The 15th-century part – two courtyards and the southern wall with loopholes.
• The 16th-century fortifications – the barbican walls, bastions and the entrance gate you walk through today.

The reserve around the ruins

On 12 September 2025 the Regional Director for Environmental Protection in Wrocław created the "Leśne zbocza przy Zamku Bolczów" (Forest Slopes by Bolczów Castle) nature reserve. It protects acidic and rich beech woods with old trees and deadwood, sycamore woods on steep slopes and plant communities on the granite outcrops. Martagon lilies grow here, and birds include the spotted nutcracker and the black woodpecker. The ruins themselves and the area in front of the entrance were left out of the reserve so they can still be used by visitors.

Tripto tip

The ruins are managed by the Śnieżka Forest District (State Forests); since 2008 they have been part of the Jelenia Góra Valley Cultural Park, and they have been a listed monument since 1958. The easiest approach is the green trail from Janowice Wielkie (about 15 km from Jelenia Góra), which continues via Wojanów to Jelenia Góra; the black trail follows the Castle Road towards the Głaziska Janowickie boulder fields. Allow about an hour for the ruins, wear shoes with a good grip – the rocks can be slippery – and stay on the marked paths through the reserve.