History

The castle was erected by Janusz I, the Duke of Mazovia. Between the end of the 14th century and the first quarter of the 15th century the entire defensive perimeter with walls and fortified towers was completed. As recently as in the 15th century the towers and the north and west sections of the curtains were extended upwards. In 1526 Southern Mazovia was incorporated into the Crown and the castle was taken over by Sigismund I. In the third stage of extension, after 1545, another upward extension of the south and west fortified towers and of the gatehouse took place. In that period the castle was adapted to serve as a residence of Queen Bona, therefore the old internal development was demolished and a new chapel, a residential house and a utility building were erected. In 1556, following the queen’s departure from Poland, the castle remained vacant. In the 17th century the castle fell into disrepair. W 1656 the troops blew parts the castle up. The wars of the second half of the 17th century and the early 18th century exacerbated the decline of the town and the dilapidation of the castle. In the years 1762-1766, the Grand Marshal of the Crown, Starost of Czersk Franciszek Bieliński began rebuilding the castle: he repaired the walls, erected an archive of town and land records within the castle area as well as a bridge joining the castle with the town. These works were interrupted by Bieliński’s death. During the partitioning of Poland, Czersk was taken over by the Prussians, who immediately began tearing down the defensive walls. In the 19th century and in the early 20th century the castle became a source of building material for the townspeople: among others, the parish church in Czersk was built through the use of demolition bricks in 1905. In 1904 the ruins were taken over by the Society for the Protection of Monuments of the Past and from that moment onwards archaeological and preservation works were conducted, although interrupted by two wars. During World War II German troops installed an observation post in the castle, which suffered severe damage during the fighting in 1944. Between 1959 and 1983, with interruptions, research, architectural, archaeological and restoration works were conducted. As a result thereof, protective crowns of walls were added and works were conducted in the gate tower and the south tower for the purpose of making the complex available to tourists.

Description

The castle in Czersk, located on a promontory on the left bank of the Vistula river, occupies the area of 1.46 ha. It was erected on an irregular polygon plan, with bricks in mixed arrangement on limestone mortar and upon foundations made of granite boulders. The circumference of the walls consisted of straight sections. Brick walls with the thickness of 1.80 m have been preserved up to the height of 6 m on the north and east side. The entire south-west part of the peripheral walls has not survived and its course is known from the traces of foundations. The complex has three fortified towers: a quadrilateral gate tower and two round south and west towers. The gate tower is 22 metres tall and is located at the north end of the curtain. The gate tower was designed on a rectangular floor plan. Its internal corners include diagonal stepped buttresses. On the ground floor it features a pointed-arch gate opening and a wicket as well as visible space where the drawbridges used to be. Currently, the castle gate is linked to the central hill by a stone bridge resting on two semicircular arcades, dating from 1972. The fortified tower has four storeys. The first storey is available by wooden stairs running along the eastern string of walls, featuring passages to wall-top footpaths. At the same time, it functioned as a “doorkeeper’s chamber”. A vestibule is found in the southern wall from which two flights of steps lead upwards: in the south and west wall. The latter lead to the second floor, to a residential chamber that is partially plastered and features a barrel vault. In the front wall of this floor there are three shallow, pointed-arch niches as well as diamond decoration made of burrs. Stairs from the “doorkeeper’s chamber” in the south wall lead directly to the third, defensive floor that features three firing holes in niches per each wall. This floor is also accessible by stairs from the chamber on the second floor, beginning in the western wall. The fourth floor, accessible by ladder, also has three firing holes per each wall. The façade includes holes after a wooden hoarding. The south, round fortified tower, that is 24 metres tall, is located in the recess of the wall, nearly completely within the circumference of the castle. Its body exhibits blanks of the initial floor that did not exceed the height of the curtains. Up to this place the fortified tower does not include holes. The interior was accessible from the wall-top footpath. The walls on the ground floor are 2 metres thick and the floor is made of large boulders. The room located inside served as a prison and was accessible through a hole in the ceiling at the height of 10 metres. Traces of beams inside the fortified tower indicate the non-surviving floors of four storeys. Communication was provided by stairs with the thickness corresponding to that of the wall, between which a concrete platform runs through the centre of the tower, halfway along its height. The third storey has four window openings. A footpath shielded by a parapet with eight openings is found on the wall crown. An external wall in the lower section is decorated with a diamond pattern made of burrs. The western, round fortified tower, located closer to the north end of the western curtain, protrudes strongly towards the exterior of the circumference, nearly adjoining the peripheral walls. Its height amounts to 18.5 metres and its perimeter to 9 metres. Initially it had a dungeon on the ground floor and four storeys above (that have not survived to this day): the first one was vaulted with a certain type of cupola, the traces of which can be found on the external wall. Communication was provided by stairs within the wall. A passage to the footpath on the peripheral walls and an exit on the north-east side lead from the second storey. The third storey has four window openings, while the fourth one - a footpath for guards, shielded by a parapet and a partially preserved crenellation. Traces on the façade indicate the existence of wooden hoardings. The lower part of the fortified tower is decorated with a diamond pattern made of burrs. A residential building, the so-called “Large House” was located at the northern curtain, but it has survived only as a part of the foundation. The St Peter castle chapel was located within the castle circumference. Only sections of its foundation have survived.

The site is accessible to visitors during the museum opening hours.

Compiled by Maciej Warchoł, Katarzyna Kosior 12-01-2018

Bibliography

• Record sheet of monuments of architecture, the so-called white sheet, M. Warchoł, 2005;
• Zagrodzki T., Czersk. Zamek i miasto historyczne, Warsaw 1996;
• Katalog zabytków sztuki w Polsce, vol. 10, issue 14, 1962;
• Guerquin B., Zamki w Polsce, Warsaw 1974;
• Szlakiem Pałaców i zamków na Mazowszu, Centrum Promocji Turystyki Regionu Mazowsze, Warsaw 1994;
• Żabicki J., Leksykon zabytków architektury Mazowsza i Podlasia, Arkady, Warsaw 2010;