Fortifications

Kostrzyn Fortress

Kostrzyn Fortress stands in Kostrzyn nad Odrą, almost on the Polish-German border. Fortification of the site began around the mid-16th century, modelled on Italian-style fortresses; over time the stronghold became a masterpiece of the military engineer's art. Surviving to this day are the town walls, the Berlin Gate, the Chyżanie Gate, two ravelins, three bastions, the inner moats and the outer forts.

The Kostrzyn Pompeii

The fortress occupies the ground of the Old Town, completely destroyed during the Second World War. The town fell silent for almost half a century, and the ruins — with their preserved street layout, foundations and townhouse cellars — earned the name of the „Kostrzyn Pompeii" and became an attraction of a kind found nowhere else. Reconstruction is gradually taking shape: ruins of old tenements and streets have emerged from heaps of earth, and part of the fortress has been restored.

The Kostrzyn Fortress Museum

Since 2014 the Filip Bastion has housed a permanent exhibition on the history of the town and its garrison. The display is interactive: alongside original finds you will find audio-visual installations, scale models and weapon replicas. The Berlin Gate is also open to visitors — it holds the Tourist Information point and artefacts from the Old Town, including the reconstruction of the sarcophagus lid of Katharina of Brunswick from 1882 and an exhumation sarcophagus from 1713. After your visit, head to the nearby Warta Mouth National Park — a kingdom of birds on the neighbouring stretch of the Oder.