Nowy Sącz Royal Castle

Nowy Sącz Castle survived the Swedish invasion, fires and a flood, but it was finally destroyed in 1945. Soldiers of the Peasants' Battalions, a Polish resistance force, blew up a German ammunition dump stored inside its walls, and the explosion almost completely wrecked the building. Of Casimir the Great's royal fortress from 1350–1360, only fragments of the walls and the rebuilt Blacksmiths' Tower (Baszta Kowalska) remain — now surrounded by a park above the confluence of the Dunajec and Kamienica rivers.

A royal seat on the escarpment

The castle was built on an escarpment in the north-western corner of the town and incorporated into the town walls. A moat, and probably a wall with a gate, separated it from the town. It had two corner towers, a keep, a residential building and an outer bailey, and two rivers protected it from the west and north. It was the seat of the castellan, the local court and the royal administrator (starosta).

Royal guests

In 1370 Louis of Hungary stopped here on his way to Kraków to receive the Polish crown. In the autumn of 1384 the castle hosted Jadwiga of Anjou, who a few weeks later, on 16 October, was crowned "King" of Poland in Kraków. Władysław Jagiełło was a frequent guest — in April 1410 he met Grand Duke Vytautas of Lithuania here to plan the war against the Teutonic Order. In 1611–1615 the castle was remodelled in Mannerist style for Sebastian and Stanisław Lubomirski to a design by Maciej Trapola; at that time it had about 40 rooms.

A long decline

Damage from the Swedish invasion, fires and the economic crisis of the 17th century started the castle's slide into ruin. In 1768 careless members of the Bar Confederation, a noble uprising, caused another fire. In August 1813 a great flood undercut the escarpment and the west wing slid into the Dunajec. The Austrians, who then ruled this part of Poland, used the remains as barracks, stores and, from 1846, a prison. Partial reconstruction in 1905 and conservation work culminated in 1938 with the opening of the Nowy Sącz Regional Museum in the castle — only a few years before the final disaster. In the 1950s the Blacksmiths' Tower and a stretch of wall with decorative parapets were restored.

The legend of the spring

At the foot of the Blacksmiths' Tower there was once a sulphurous spring that never froze. According to legend, young knights on guard there kept disappearing without trace. Finally a brave man drew a circle around himself with blessed chalk and waited until midnight: nymphs rose from the spring and invited him to dance. When he threw his rosary into the water, they turned into witches and flew away. The spring is gone — it was reportedly buried by the 1945 explosion.

What to look for

• The Renaissance Blacksmiths' Tower — the best-preserved part of the castle.
• Sections of the outer walls with parapets, restored in the 1950s.
• The edge of the escarpment, which shows why the castle was built here — and how the 1813 flood could undermine it.

Tripto tip

The ruins stand in a public park, a few minutes' walk from the Market Square and town hall. The castle itself is a short stop of 15–30 minutes, so combine it with a walk around the old town. The grounds are freely accessible. The best light for photos of the tower comes in the late afternoon, and from the edge of the park you can look out over the Dunajec valley. After rain the park paths can be slippery.