Siewierz

State of preservation:		Secured ruins
Admission:		You can sightsee the castle for free
Parking:		By the castle there is a driver training ground, which can be used as the parking lot on the weekends
Searching difficulty:		The signposts lead up to the castle, but it is hidden deep in the place
Access difficulty:		You can reach the castle down the trodden paths
Subjective rating:		Nice castle

Driving directions:

Driving down the road no 78 from Zawiercie to Katowice you pass through Siewierz. In the town, around 200 m past the board with the name of the place you need to look out for the signpost to the castle on the left side of the road. Then turn according to its indication, find the next signpost and you will arrive at the castle like that.


Historical outline:

The castle in Siewierz arose in the first half of the XIVth cent. on the artificially banked up platform as a wooden building. The first brick parts of the castle did not arise until the first half of the XVth cent. Siewierz arose probably in the XIth cent. whereas it undoubtedly belonged to the lands of Cracow before the 70’s of the XIIth cent., which confirm the written sources. In the XIIIth cent. the settlement was already ruled by the dukes of Opole. In the 1443 the duke of Cieszyn, Wacław I sold the town along with the castle to the bishop of Cracow, Zbigniew Oleśnicki. These were exactly the bishops of Cracow who contributed to the extension and fortification of the castle. In the XVIIth cent. the stronghold began to decay, and the invasion of the Swedes only pushed that process ahead. After the war with the Swedes the castle was rebuilt, however it quickly began to deteriorate again, which affirm the inventories from the years of 1732, 1746, 1758 and 1788. Finally the castle was deserted by the last resident – the bishop Feliks Paweł Turski – in 1800. The preservative works from the 50’s, 70’s and the 90’s of the XXth cent. saved the castle from an entire annihilation.




Pictures:




Nearest castles:

Mirów

Bobolice (Silesia Province)

Podzamcze

Będzin