Location and description

The archeological site is located within Równina Świdnicka, approx. 400 m to the west of the village of Maniów.

The hillfort presently has the form of a quadrangular earthen structure, 40 m square, surrounded by a 15-20 m wide moat. On the external side of the moat, there is a visible rampart having the shape of a rectanble with rounded corners. Nearby, approx. 10 m away to the east and 30 m away to the south — there are sections of another rampart. It cannot be ruled out that there was another moat between the ramparts.

History

According to archaeological studies, the hillfort dates back to the 13th century or the 14th-15th centuries. The village of Maniów was first mentioned in written records in 1193. There is also information from 1290 about komes (a dignitary) Thymo from Maniów. Records mention the knight Przecław of Manov in the years 1301-1305 and Kilian von Haugwitz in 1315. It can be presumed that the defensive complex in Maniów was a seat of knights, owners of the local estates. After the hillfort stoped performing its functions, the estates in Maniów were the property of the von Schindl family, Abraham Purschnitz, and the von Borschnitz family, among others. A palace was built in the village in the 16th-18th centuries.

Condition and results of archaeological research

A surface survey was carried out at the site before 1945. In 1923, the ramparts were dug through (Fritz Geschwendt). In 1992, the site was surveyed as part of a project titled “The Archaeological Picture of Poland”. The hillfort requires further archaeological and architectural studies. During the examinations, fragments of pottery were found.

The historic monument is accessible. The site is marked with a stone information tablet. To the west of the hillfort — along the shores of Zalew Mietkowski — runs the Trail of Saint Jacob. Moreover, there are bike trails running through Maniów: EuroVelo 9, Pętla Bystrzycka 2 (from Kąty Wrocławskie to Mietków), and Wielka Pętla Bystrzycka around Zalew Mietkowski.

compiled by Donata Trenkler, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Wroclaw, 09-09-2014

Bibliography

• Archeologiczne Zdjęcie Polski, obszar 83-25, karta 1/6.
• Grodziska średniowieczne - katalog [mps w archiwum Wojewódzkiego Urzędu Ochrony Zabytków we Wrocławiu].
• Katalog zabytków sztuki w Polsce. Seria Nowa, t. 4: Województwo wrocławskie, z. 2: Sobótka, Kąty Wrocławskie i okolice, Warszawa 1991, s. 56-59.