Niesytno Castle

The tower of Niesytno Castle is neither round nor square: it is an octagon with a sharp "beak" pointing east, and inside it are traces of two storeys of so-called warm rooms, lined with timber beams for insulation. Researchers consider this unique in Poland. The ruins stand on a rocky spur at 550 m above the village of Płonina, in the eastern ridge of the Kaczawskie Mountains, on the Piast Castles Trail.

History: the Corner of Fear

The first reliable record dates from 1432, when Konrad Oleśnicki, Bishop of Wrocław, reported to the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order that the stronghold of the knight Hayn von Czirn had been seized by a force of burghers from Wrocław and Świdnica. The castle's German name is Nimmersath, and its traditional nickname Angstwinkel, the "Corner of Fear", is linked to the Hussites and robber knights said to have hidden here in the 15th century. From the 1430s the castle probably belonged to the von Zedlitz family, who lived here until the mid-17th century.

In 1545 the Zedlitz family built a Renaissance manor house in the lower bailey – today's Płonina Palace – and the old castle lost its role as a residence. From then on it was used mainly for storage: a granary was set up in the knights' hall, and four hook guns were fired on holidays and special occasions. In 1843 Count Julius von Bülow bought and secured the ruins, and in the early 20th century Count Eberhard von Saurma opened the upper castle to visitors.

What to see

The walls are built of local greenstone (zieleniec). An architectural survey in 2011–2012 identified five building phases:

• a rock castle of the 14th–15th centuries, with living quarters on the summit and a kidney-shaped lower bailey about 10 m below,
• the octagonal residential tower with its beak, 15th century, once circled by two timber fighting galleries (at the third and sixth storeys),
• a two-wing gatehouse from the 15th century,
• a three-storey "high house" from around 1500,
• a kitchen in the west wing from the second half of the 16th century.

Tripto tip

The castle is privately owned (since 2010 by Krzysztof Harkawy), and since 2012 the medieval residential building has been cleared of rubble and rebuilt. Check before you go whether and when the site is open; otherwise the best view of the tower on its rock is from the meadows at the edge of Płonina. The ruins have been a listed monument since 13 November 1961. A visit combines easily with Bolków Castle, whose keep has much in common with Niesytno's tower.