Świecie Castle near Leśna

The ruins on a gneiss crag above the village of Świecie near Leśna are not the castle on the Vistula of the same name, but one of three strongholds of the old Queis District (Okręg Kwisy) on the border between Silesia and Lusatia. Over the centuries it changed hands many times – in 1729 its owner was even Augustus II the Strong, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony. Since 1999 the ruins have been privately owned, and the walls are being rebuilt using traditional building techniques.

History: a watchtower on the Kwisa

The castle first appears in records in 1329 as "Sweta", in an agreement in which Duke Henry I of Jawor confirmed the return of the Görlitz lands to the King of Bohemia. At the time the Queis District consisted of three castle districts: Świecie, Czocha and Leśna. The castle is attributed to the dukes of Świdnica and Jawor, and its job was to guard the route from Lusatia towards Lubań and Jelenia Góra. When the region passed to the Bohemian Crown, the castle lost its military role and became a knightly residence.

By 1385 at the latest it belonged to the von Uechtritz family, who held it for more than two centuries. After a fire in 1527 they rebuilt and enlarged it in Renaissance style. In the 17th and 18th centuries owners changed often: in 1719 the estate was bought by the Saxon field marshal Jakob Heinrich von Flemming, and in 1729 it was taken over by Augustus II the Strong, who soon sold it on. After another fire in the first half of the 18th century, a Baroque palace was added on the east side.

Decline and rebuilding

From 1760 the castle stood empty, and in the first half of the 19th century it burnt down and was never rebuilt. In the early 20th century Ernst Gütschow, owner of nearby Czocha Castle, planned to restore it, but the First World War got in the way. According to the Leśna municipality, the ruins have been in private hands since 1999. The new owners carried out archaeological research and are gradually rebuilding the walls under conservation guidelines, with the aim of opening the castle to visitors in the future.

What to see

What survives is the tower, sections of the gneiss curtain walls, the courtyard and remains of the residential buildings and outer bailey. The castle had an irregular oval outline, a gate on the west and a chapel on the east side. The ruins are easy to see from the road towards Pobiedna and Mirsk. A few hundred metres away stands the village church, with a coffered ceiling painted with portraits of Christ's ancestors, galleries decorated with biblical scenes and knights' tombstones, including that of Antoni von Üchtritz.

Tripto tip

Building work keeps changing what can be accessed, so check current information with the Leśna municipality before your visit and do not enter the castle grounds except where clearly permitted. The ruins pair well with Czocha Castle – the other stronghold of the old Queis District – and a walk on the green-marked trail around Leśna. About an hour is enough for the ruins and the church.