Lanckorona Castle Ruins

On the wooded summit of Lanckorońska Góra in 1771, Polish insurgents of the Bar Confederation stopped none other than Alexander Suvorov — the Russian corps suffered heavy losses here and had to retreat. All that remains of King Casimir the Great's fortress today are the foundations of its towers and fragments of wall, but since 2023 the ruins have been stabilised, and a bridge rebuilt from late 18th-century drawings once again leads to the gate.

History: a castle on the border

Archaeological research has shown that a timber-and-earth fort stood here as early as the early Middle Ages. The stone castle was built on the orders of Casimir the Great after 1360 to guard the road to Kraków and the border with the Duchy of Oświęcim, which then ran along the foot of the hill. The first record dates from 1366, naming a burgrave called Orzeszko — the same year Lanckorona received its town charter. In his will of 1370 the king left the castle to Zbigniew of Brzezie, whose son began calling himself Lanckoroński.

The castle was the seat of royal starosts (district governors) and changed hands often. In the late 16th century it passed to Mikołaj Zebrzydowski, who prepared his 1606 rebellion against King Sigismund III Vasa here. In 1655 the commander, Jakub Wilkoński, handed the castle to the Swedes without a fight. The Zebrzydowski family held it until the 18th century, followed by the Czartoryskis and the Wielopolskis.

Stronghold of the Bar Confederation

The most famous chapter began in 1768, when the castle was seized by the Bar Confederation, an armed league of Polish nobles opposing Russian domination. In November 1769 Kazimierz Pułaski — later a hero of the American Revolution — won a skirmish against the Russians nearby. A French engineer, Colonel de la Serre, surrounded the hill with bastion fortifications, and on 20 February 1771 Suvorov's assault ended in defeat. At the Battle of Lanckorona on 21 May 1771 the confederates lost in the field but kept the castle, which surrendered only in 1772.

After the partitions of Poland, the Austrian authorities of Galicia used the castle as a prison, and once it had been moved to Wadowice, the fortress was blown up. In 1880 the south wall and part of the east tower were still standing, but demolition in 1884 completed the destruction.

What to see

The summit still has the foundations of the towers and sections of the shield wall. Work began in summer 2023, and the first two stages were completed in March 2024 at a cost of PLN 6.4 million. The walls from the time of Casimir the Great and of the starost Zebrzydowski were secured, the towers conserved and the bridge to the gate rebuilt. Removing layers of soil uncovered the castle's entire residential section, plaster with painted decoration and cellar vaults.

The municipality has adopted a "permanent ruin" approach — protecting the monument with minimal reconstruction. Plans include restoring the gate portal and raising the tower with an internal staircase and roof terrace, but further stages depend on securing more funding.

Tripto tip

You reach the ruins on foot from the market square in Lanckorona — leave the car in the village and walk up the woodland path to the top. Two marked trails pass the castle: the blue one from Brzeźnica to Kacwin and the yellow one from Myślenice to Chełm Wschodni. Allow about an hour for the hill and ruins, or half a day including the market square and the village's wooden houses.

The path can be slippery after rain, so wear sturdy shoes. Check municipal notices before you go, as parts of the site may be closed during later stages of work. Lanckorona combines easily with nearby Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, a UNESCO-listed pilgrimage park founded by the same family that held the castle for two centuries.