History

The first reliable historical reference to the hamlet comes from 1349. However, the early settlement can be assumed to have been established in the 13th century. The presence of a royal court (curia) is certified by a document from 1358. Later records refer to this site more often as a castle (castrum). Both Jan of Czarnków and Jan Długosz point to King Casimir the Great as its founder. Indeed, the Niepołomice castle was the favourite residence of the last king of the Piast dynasty. Transformation into a defensive residence took place during the reign of Władysław Jagiełło. Niepołomice was a regular meeting place of the monarch and his council as well as a great hunting spot for foreign visitors and dignitaries. Sigismund the Old launched a reconstruction project of the castle in 1506. As a result, a four-wing complex was created with one-bay annexes from the east and west and two-bay annexes forming the south and north wings. According to M. Kozera, at that stage of development, there were already wooden cloisters installed, probably running around the entire courtyard. The entrance gate was in the south side. The Renaissance residence obtained its final shape during the reign of Sigismund II Augustus, who continued his father’s project after removing the damage caused by a fire around 1550. The construction project was overseen by Master Tomasz Grzymała, supported by Polish and Italian craftsmen (including Santi Gucci). The castle served as a royal residence until the death of King Stephen Bathory (1586). Later, it was a residence of starosts (Lubomirski), who only re-designed the courtyard and the interior. The cloisters were probably altered on the initiative of Aleksander Michał Lubomirski (ca. 1637). During the Polish-Swedish War, the castle was partially destroyed, and the Swedes took away almost all its equipment. Despite ad hoc renovation works, the building was already in a very poor condition at the end of the 18th century. During the Partitions of Poland, after converting the complex into military barracks, the Austrian administration removed the entire second floor. Attempts to save the monument were made repeatedly from the beginning of the 19th century. The renovation starting in 1991, which restored the building to its former glory, was largely financed by the local self-government.

Description

The Gothic castle comprised a set of brick buildings set up on a stone foundation and concentrated around a courtyard. Upgraded by King Sigismund Augustus, the castle, became another, next to Wawel, regularly laid out edifice with an arcaded courtyard and contributed to the promotion of architecture styles of Italian origin among the Polish nobility. The complex had two rectangular towers, one in the north-west corner and the other in the north-east corner. They were connected by a curtain wall. On the east, the courtyard was closed with a single-bay, two-storey building. The south curtain was an elongated house, probably two-bay, also with two floors. Its south-west corner had a small, four-sided tower. The entrance was through a gate in the west part of the curtain wall. Unfortunately, the once rich furnishings of the royal residence are gone and only known from historical records; noteworthy is the architectural detail, especially the sculptural forms in the gateway section. Near the castle, there are the remnants of a former grange, its most valuable monument being a (most probably) bakery featuring typical attributes of a functional building from the 18th century.

Opening hours: daily from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (from 1 May - 30 September to 6:00 p.m.).

Author of the note Stanisław Kołodziejski, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Kraków 30/9/2014

Bibliography

• Kajzer L. Kołodziejski S., Salm L, Leksykon zamków w Polsce, Warszawa 2001.
• Guerquin B., Zamki w Polsce, Warszawa 1984, pp. 213-214;
• W. Kieszkowski 1935; K. Kruczek 1980; B. Guerquin 1984, p. 225; J. Z. Łoziński 1985, pp. 431, 432; M. Kozera 1994; KZS, vol. I, pp. 53-54.