Pilcza Castle in Smoleń

The tower of Smoleń Castle rises so clearly above the beech canopy that it has served as a landmark in this part of the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland for centuries. This is Pilcza, the family seat of the Pilecki clan, which produced Elżbieta Granowska, the third wife of King Władysław Jagiełło. After years of being closed, the ruins were stabilised and since 2015 visitors can once again walk the courtyards and climb the tower.

History: from Otto of Pilcza to a shot factory

The stone castle was most likely built in the mid-14th century by Otto of Pilcza, a royal governor in Ruthenia and later voivode of Sandomierz. The first reliable record dates from 1394, when a castle chaplain is mentioned. Around 1400 the castle belonged to Otto's daughter Elżbieta, who became Queen of Poland in 1417. Her son Jan Pilecki began nearly two centuries of family rule on this hill.

From 1492 to 1515 the castle was home to Biernat of Lublin, chaplain, physician and secretary to Jan Pilecki, who praised the castle library in his letters. In 1577 Wojciech Padniewski bought the estate, but the cramped hilltop left no room to expand, so around 1610 the owners moved to nearby Pilica. Swedish troops wrecked the castle in 1655, and in 1797 the Austrians quarried its walls for stone to build a customs house. In the 1840s Roman Hubicki tidied up the ruins and set up the "Batawia" lead-shot factory here.

What to see

The castle has three parts from different periods. The oldest is the upper castle on the rock, with a round keep about 7.5 m in diameter. Its original entrance was several metres above the ground; today's door at ground level was cut much later.

• East castle – added after 1350, with a pentagonal circuit wall up to 2 m thick. A pointed Gothic gateway survives, with grooves that once guided the portcullis.
• Courtyard well – tradition says it was cut by Tatar prisoners and reached 100 or even 200 m. Nobody knows its true depth, and today it is filled in down to 26 m.
• West castle – a late-15th-century extension with traces of a residential building with pointed windows and the remains of a gate.

Smoleń Nature Reserve and the area

The limestone castle hill lies within the Smoleń Nature Reserve. Its slopes are covered with beech, hornbeam and larch, with several protected plant species on the forest floor. Both the hiking and cycling versions of the Trail of the Eagles' Nests pass through Smoleń, so the ruins fit easily into a longer route. Within a few kilometres you will find Pilica with its palace and historic town layout, the Wodąca Valley and Bydlin Castle.

Tripto tip

The ruins open seasonally. The regional Trail of the Eagles' Nests website lists tickets at PLN 7 (standard) and PLN 5 (reduced), but phone ahead to check current opening dates. Allow about an hour for the visit; a short uphill forest walk leads from the car park. The best shot of the tower above the trees is from the road, before you head into the woods.