History

The construction of stone town walls was commenced in the 14th century, in the place of wooden and earthen fortifications. Construction works lasted until the 16th century. In the end, town fortifications enclosed the chartered town along with a castle and a trade settlement. Within the perimeter of the walls, which were circumscribed by a moat, there were two gates: Głogowska Gate (also called Clay Gate), and Żagańska Gate (also called Stone Gate), three wicket gates, and 25 fortified towers. In 1745, ruins of the castle were dismantled and in its place, an Evangelical church was built using the medieval walls. In 1804, the dismantling of fortification walls started. In the years 1826-1836, the gates were demolished. With time, the moat was filled, and at the turn of the 19th and the 20th century, a town park was created in the place of the defensive ramparts.

Description

A couple of sections of the town walls have survived: in the southern part of the town, in the ruins of the Evangelical church, there is a wall section with a fortified tower; by K. Świerczewskiego Street, there is a fragment of the Żagańska Gate, and by the building at 9 K. Świerczewskiego Street, a wall fragment was incorporated (32 m in length, 7 m in height), ending with a rectangular fortified tower; along Ogrodowa Street, in the back of Katedralna Street, there is a wall (68 m in length, 3.5 m in height) with two semi-circular fortified towers; and in the northern part of the town, by Bronka Kozaka Street, there is a wall (84 m in length, 5.5 m in height) with two semi-circular fortified towers and a pointed-arch gate with wooden doors. The walls were made from erratic stone and bog iron, with brick infills. In some parts, there are plastered. Part of the surviving walls, in the crest section, is covered with ceramic tiles or secured with rows of bricks.

The site is open to the public.

compiled by Marta Kłaczkowska, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Zielona Góra, 16-09-2015.

Bibliography

• Garbacz K., Przewodnik po zabytkach województwa lubuskiego, Tom II, Zielona Góra 2012, s. 144.
• Kowalski S., Zabytki architektury województwa lubuskiego, Zielona Góra 2010, s. 375-376.