It is characterised by outstanding monumental values, in terms of history, landscape and development of the defensive art. The fortress is a nearly completely preserved, valuable complex of monuments of the defensive architecture and utility buildings, with a very well developed network of fortress roads (the nearly fully preserved core of the fortress is an exception on the European scale). The authentic fortified landscape has been preserved to a great extent as well. It mainly consists of greenery masking systems, orography, and the course of the fortress roads. Defensive facilities of the fortress are a material proof of the development of the Austro-Hungarian defensive school (i.e. the Austrian fortification school) from the mid-19th century to the outbreak of World War I and the war itself (field fortifications).

They bear the imprint of dramatic historical events related to 3 sieges in the years 1914-1915, in particular the blowing up of critical fragments of defensive facilities after the surrender of the crew following the second siege of 22 March 1915. The forts also show signs of fierce fights related to the aforesaid sieges, in particular the first and the third one, during which the heaviest Austro-Hungarian siege artillery was used to attack the forts. The current status of certain forts is also an effect of postwar demolitions of brick parts and fragmentary levelling out of parts of ramparts related to their postwar use. The fortress was of considerable importance during the fights in the initial period of World War I. It was of strategic significance and had a considerable impact on the course of fights on the eastern front of the Great War, while its defence rose to the symbol of heroism and sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of its defenders and those rushing with relief. The crew and the besiegers included members of several dozen nations, including plenty of Poles.

History

The concept of fortifying the land of Galicia began to gain momentum among the Austrian strategists in the early 19th century. In 1809 a commission was appointed to establish a place for the construction of fortifications. However, its members decided that it was the Carpathian passes that needed to be reinforced, in particular the Dukla Pass. Subsequent studies and considerations led to the shaping of a concept of basing the defensive strategy on the San-Dnestr line and fortifying bridgeheads in, among others, Jarosław, Radymno and Przemyśl. However, only the events of 1846 and 1848 and seizure of Cracow by the Austrians prompted the emperor and the Austrian military headquarters to assign funds to the fortification of Cracow and Lvov. Shortly afterwards, the international situation worsened considerably, which led to the outbreak of the Crimean War, in which Austria, despite its neutrality, assumed a hostile stance towards Russia. In 1854 tensions between these two powers were so high that the war seemed imminent. Therefore, the construction of field fortifications in strategic points in Galicia, including Przemyśl, began.

In 1854 construction of a ring of fortifications as part of the first stronghold began on the hills surrounding Przemyśl. Out of the planned 42 artillery sconces of the FS type (Feuer-Schanze - fire earthwork) only some of them were completed. The largest sconce, with an untypical, extensive form, was built in Zniesienie and was named “Fort Przemyśl”. In 1855, due to the release of tensions in international relations, fortification works were put to a halt and the plots with sconces were returned to private owners. In the years that followed, most sconces were remodelled and extended. Only 3 sconces have survived to this day: no. 18 “Czeremoszna” and no. 19 “Hurko B”, as well as an incomplete sconce no. 34½ (at the fortress road to fort VII Prałkowice).

Peace after the Crimean War did not change Austria’s strategic situation and in 1871 it transformed into a dualistic monarchy - Austro-Hungary. The issues of state defence were shaped by ministries of foreign affairs, war and finance that reported directly to the emperor. The new country had to change its war strategy, as Galicia gained considerable importance in that regard. In 1871 the emperor of Austro-Hungary decided to build fortifications in Przemyśl, ordering the location of the army’s storage yard there. Daniel von Salis-Soglio was appointed Director of Fortress Engineering in Przemyśl and quickly decided to buy sconces built in the years 1854-1855 from private owners and to erect warehouses and administrative buildings for the institution he supervised. That same year a commission was established with a task to prepare fortification designs. The first design of field fortifications was approved by the emperor in 1872. In the following years subsequent designs were elaborated.

In 1878, pursuant to another decision of the emperor, the construction of the first 9 artillery sconces began and they served as a surrogate of the external ring. The following sconces were located on the right bank of the San river: I “Przekopana”, II “Jaksmanice”, III “Łuczyce”, IV “Optyń” and VI “Iwanowa Góra”. The left bank was occupied by the following sconces: IX between Ujkowice and Lipowica, X “Orzechowice”, XI “Duńkowiczki” and XIII “Bolestraszyce”. The works were supervised by the Director of Fortification Construction, col. Anton Werner.

Another programme for the construction of fortifications, this time in a permanent form, began in 1881. The first permanent, single-rampart artillery fort - VIII “Łętownia” - was erected in the years 1881-1882. It was the first facility that used poured concrete as part of construction works. Another three forts of this type, albeit slightly modernised, were erected in the years 1882-1885. These were: XII “Żurawica” (later dubbed XII “Werner”), V “Grochowice” and VII “Prałkowice”. In the years 1883-1886, in the easternmost part of the ring, the largest and most complicated artillery fort - I “Siedliska” was built. Later on, it was renamed as “Salis-Soglio” to honour its designer. At the same time, on the hills in the approaches to the fort I, four artillery batteries were erected: Ia - Id. In this way the first fort group was established in the Przemyśl Fortress - the so-called Siedliska Group. In the following years, artillery forts were built in the northern part of the ring, based on a new concept of a dual-rampart fort. The concept consisted in placing short-range and long-range defence stations on separate ramparts. According to that concept 3 forts were erected: XIV “Hurko”, X “Orzechowice” and XI “Duńkowiczki”.

In 1887, the construction of an internal defensive ring - the “Noyau” core - began. 6 forts were built: XVI “Zniesienie”, XVII “Ostrów”, XVIII “Lipowica”, XIX “Winna Góra”, XX “Przekopana”, XXI “Bakończyce” as well as 10 batteries and infantry sconces - “Trzy Krzyże” and in Wilcz. All buildings were connected by an uninterrupted defensive wall and a moat. The core’s circumference amounted to 16 km. Provisional sconces from the years 1854-1855 were extended within the external ring, similarly as the previously non-extended sconces from 1878. Two new provisional forts were also built: II “Jaksmanice” and XV “Borek”. Several batteries forming the second line (the so-called “support line”) were erected between the rings: 1 “Krówniki”, 2 “Nehrybka”, 12 “Buszkowiczki”, A “Łapajówka” and B “Kruhel”. In the year that followed the fortress back facilities - new barracks - began to be erected.

The fortress was divided into the so-called defensive districts, out of which the first two covered sections of the core on the right and left bank of the San river, while districts III-VIII covered fragments of the external ring with particular main forts in the centre. Batteries of the support line were also incorporated into these defensive districts.

The late 1880s saw a technical breakthrough in the construction of fortifications. New rotating armoured and observation towers began to be tested and their serial production started in 1890. New types of rapid-fire cannons using integrated ammunition, adapted 15 cm M.80 mortars, and 15 cm howitzers with a far longer range were developed to match the new armament systems. Drawing from the experiences of the French-Prussian war, the concept of separating short-range and long-range defence functionalities and placing them in separate, specialised facilities took precedence. Heavy artillery batteries were to be located on positions between the forts that were to obtain new short-range defence stations. Between them, smaller facilities for short-range defence, partially equipped with armoured towers, were to be located. The concept of a new defensive system, called the group system, also crystallised.

The construction of new forts in the Przemyśl Fortress began with three small middle fields of the ring (Gürtelzwischenwerk) for the short-range defence, the so-called “infantry forts”. These were: GZW IIb “Cyków” in the south-eastern part of the ring, GZW Va “Leśniczówka Grochowce” in the southern part and GZW VIIIa “Leśniczówka Łętownia” in the western part. These forts were constructed in the years 1891-1893. In the same years fort 20 (N XVIIIb) “Głęboka” and a smaller N XVIIIa “Strzelnica” forts of the same type were erected in the north-western part of the core. In the right wing of fort 20, along the road to Lipownica, a “Lipowica” defensive barrier was built, consisting of a gatehouse and a brick wall with embrasures.

The main designer of the armoured reconstruction of the Przemyśl Fortress was Director of Fortress Engineering, general Moritz Josef von Brunner. In the years 1892-1896 two most massive forts of the Przemyśl Fortress were erected based on his design: GHW (Gürtelhauptwerk) IX “Ujkowice” (later renamed as IX “Brunner”) and GHW XIII “San Rideau”. The nearby provisional artillery sconce XIII “Bolestraszyce” was redeveloped into a middle field fort GZW XIIIb “Bolestraszyce”. New forts were the armoured versions of old centred forts hosting stations for heavy artillery (cannons and mortars, later replaced with howitzers placed in armoured towers) and for short-range defence. These were the so-called “unit forts” (“Einheitsfort”).

Between the main forts in the ring, in places of particular significance for defence efficiency, the so-called middle field forts were erected. They mainly served as short-range defence facilities, with cannons located in armoured towers and in casemates (equipped with armoured shields) for defending the middle fields between the forts. According to that concept, the following forts were constructed: GZW IX a “Przy Krzyżu”, GZW XIa “Cegielnia” and GZW Xa “Pruchnicka Droga” (with armoured casemates, but without armoured towers).

In the years 1893-1905 the Siedliska Group was considerably reinforced (in district VI). New, highly armoured and modern cannons were installed in armoured towers and casemates of the following forts: GHW XV “Borek” with a coupled long-range battery for 4 mortars 15 cm, and forts projecting towards the approach (Gürtelvorwerk) GVW I/2 “Byków”, GVW I/5 “Popowice”, GVW I/6 “Dziewięczyce” with a coupled battery and GVW I/1 “Leśniczówka Byków”, known under the other name “Łysiczka”. In the latter fort, two most modern retractable and rotating armoured towers with rapid-fire cannons of the Senkpanzer type were used. On the left and right side of the fort, coupled batteries were installed: for short-range defence hosting four cannons in portable armour (Fahrpanzer) and for long-range defence, hosting four 12 cm cannons. In the Siedliska Group several trench batteries for heavy artillery, field cannons and two main munition warehouses for district VII and VIII were built. At least one of these warehouses was not blown up on 22 March 1915 and has survived until now, which is unique for the entire Przemyśl Fortress. The aforementioned facilities of District VI (except for fort XV) are presently located in the territory of Ukraine.

In the stage of armoured extension of the Przemyśl Fortress described above, the previously existing forts were also redeveloped by adding armoured batteries with cannons in rotating towers as well as armoured casemates. The following forts underwent such modernisations: GHW II “Jaksmanice”, a two-rampart fort GHW X “Orzechowce” and a very strongly armoured GHW IV “Optyń”, which was erected in place of a provisional artillery sconce. The “Optyń” fort was the last large defensive facility erected in the Przemyśl Fortress.

During large-scale manoeuvres of 1896, in the left middle field, between GHW X “Orzechowice” fort and the old artillery sconce Xb “Zagrodnia”, an oval infantry sconce “Zagrodnia” was built, better known under the name “Orzechowce” infantry sconce.

During the armoured reconstruction in the years 1897-1899, the “Noyau” ring of the Przemyśl Fortress was also modernised. To the west of the XVIc fort an infantry outpost with a brick blockhouse containing embrasures for manual and machine weapons was built. Curtain walls to Lower Sanocka Gate, Upper Sanocka Gate, an earthen sconce (redan) on the western side of Fort XVI “Zniesienie”, and a brick guardhouse at the Lower Sanocka Gate were also built. Earlier, in the years 1895-1896, the defensive features of the core between fort XIX “Winna Góra” and the railway line were reinforced.

In the years 1900-1908 the last stage of extension of the Przemyśl Fortress was carried out. Battery 4 was then redeveloped into the main fort GHW VII½ “Tarnawce”, a new short-range defence fort XIIIa “Zabłocie” (infantry fort) and 3 artillery batteries for long-range defence in the northern part of the ring were erected, while fort XI “Duńkowiczki” underwent modernisation. The last fort was equipped with 4 state-of-the-art retractable and rotating armoured towers Senkpanzer, identical as the ones used in fort GVW I/1 “Łysiczka” in the Siedliska Group.

Most barracks were also redeveloped, in some of them two or three-storey buildings were also erected.

Shortly before the war most forts of the external ring were modernised by adding new bomb-resistant shelters. Moreover, the construction of new short-range defence forts XIb “Gaj”, IIb “Rożubowice”, VIb “Lipnik”, as well as “Byków” and “1/Popowice” infantry resistance points began. The latter were completed after the outbreak of the war. During the war the modernisation of the last two forts in the southern section of the external ring was completed: GHW III “Łuczyce” and GHW VI “Iwanowa Góra” (Helicha).

In the first 10 months of the Great War on the Galician territory, the Przemyśl Fortress played a very important role. General Herman Kusmanek von Burgneustädten was the commander of the Przemyśl Fortress. After the outbreak of the war large-scale works were carried out in the fortress with an aim of preparing it for a potential siege. New enclosed field resistance points were constructed within the external ring as well as ca. 50 km of entrenchment lines shielded from shrapnels and precipitation. Ca. 1000 ha of the forest in the approach was cleared as well as 21 settlements were demolished and burnt down to hinder the activity of Russian troops. Field railway lines were laid along the fortress roads. Numerous minefields and barbed wire lines were installed in the approach. Numerous shelters, sanitary points, field kitchens, warehouses were built and new wells were drilled behind the defence lines of the infantry and in the back facilities of resistant points. 2 additional bridges over the San river were built. The fortress crew amounted to ca. 131,000 soldiers, 21,000 horses and 1010 cannons of a different type and gauge.

The first siege began on 18 September 1914. On that day the first shots were fired towards Russian troops advancing towards the fortress from the GVW I/1 “Łysiczka” and nearby batteries. On 25 September the fortress was encircled. The Russian troops were commanded by general Radko Dimitrev, who quickly handed the command over to general Brusilov. During the first siege the Russian troops tried to take the fortress by storm. The main attack concentrated on the Siedliska Group. The assault was commanded directly by general Shcherbachov and it began in the early hours of 5 October, focusing on all outermost forts of the group from I/1 to I/6. The defenders drove the Russians away, but the latter continued the offensive focusing on forts I/1 and I/2. The infantry attack was accompanied by heavy shelling by the artillery. On the night 6 October the Russians managed to reach the ring. Then they carried out an all-out assault as a result of which they managed to burst into the I/1 “Łysiczka” fort. An immediate counteraction by the fortress artillery prevented the breaking of the ring. Both the besiegers and the besieged who failed to hide in the fort casemates died. Both sides suffered huge loss of life. The Russian 73rd “Crimean” infantry regiment remained on the battlefield nearly completely. After the failure to storm the Siedliska Group, the Russians attempted at conquering other sections of the fortifications. Forts IV “Optyń”, IV defensive district in the northern part of the ring, between fort X “Orzechowce” and fort XII “Werner” were under attack. Fort XI “Duńkowiczki” suffered severe damage. The assault lasted three days. All attacks were resisted by the fortress artillery and the infantry. The Russians again suffered considerable losses. The fortress was freed as a result of the Austro-Hungarian counteroffensive on 10 October 1914. In sum, the losses on the part of the Russian troops are estimated at 20,000 casualties, although general Kusmanek talked of 70,000 killed soldiers. The losses on the part of the defenders are estimated at 3-4 thousand soldiers.

After the liberation of the fortress the main problem was to replenish the fortress stocks. Most food stocks were consumed during the siege or handed over to the field army. Large amounts of munitions were also used up. New deliveries were hampered due to the damaged railway bridges and roads washed away by Autumn rains. It turned out impossible to completely replenish the fortress stocks before the next siege. In line with the wartime standards, food for around 80 days was gathered. Drawing conclusions from the first siege, general Kusmanek ordered to create another ring of field fortifications in the approach to the fort ring. In one month, the fourth defensive ring was constructed, consisting of enclosed resistance points connected by trenches. The scope of extension of field stations was analogical to the way the fortress had been equipped after the outbreak of the war, albeit covering a much larger area.

The Austro-Hungarian offensive was halted by the Russians on the San river. After Russians broke the front in the Congress Poland, the Austro-Hungarian commanders ordered a retreat. The fortress was encircled again on 9 November 1914. The Russian troops were led by general Selivanov. That time the besieging army did not intend to storm the fortress, limiting themselves to blocking it. The Russian offensive led to seizing nearly the entire Galicia. It was halted on the line of Carpathians and close to the Cracow Fortress. General Kusmanek ordered an active defence of the Przemyśl Fortress, consisting in organising crew raids to the approaches. These raids were often long-range ones, but they were always halted by the Russians. Both sides suffered large loss of life as a result. The hostilities continued throughout the Winter of 1914/1915. The Austro-Hungarian army tried to conduct counterattacks in racing to rescue the Przemyśl Fortress. After the victorious battle of Limanowa, the Austro-Hungarian troops reached Lesko and Sanok. The raid conducted on 27/28 December was put to a halt only near Kopystańka in the Przemyśl foothills. However, the troops failed to connect, as the Austro-Hungarian army was pushed off by the Russians, who inflicted heavy losses among the former. Subsequent attempts at liberating the fortress, known under the name of the First Carpathian Battle lasting until 28 January 1915, brought about large losses within the ranks of the Austro-Hungarian army caused by severe frost. During the winter and spring months the front stabilised on the Carpathian line. The Russians also managed to seize some positions of field defenders - the so-called “Na Górach” (on the mountain tops) position. In winter the defenders began suffering from hunger and diseases. To feed the crew, a decision was made to start killing horses, which in turn hampered the military operations. The situation got worse as a result of fruitless raids from the fortress. Exhaustion of the crew posed a risk of failure to resist another assault on the fortress, which would have made it easier for the Russians to take over the fortress in an undamaged state. After a failed raid from the fortress towards the east on 19 March 1915, which was aimed at intercepting Russian food storages, general Kusmanek made a decision to surrender. At night on 21/22 March the most important fragments of the forts were blown up and the armour and pieces of military equipment were destroyed. On 22 March the fortress surrendered to the Russians.

On 23 March the Russian tsar visited the captured fortress. The Russians tried to provisionally repair the damaged forts. A victorious battle of Gorlice, which began on 2 May 1915, marked a breakthrough in warfare conducted on the Galician front. The defences were broken through and a great counteroffensive, which would later push the Russians away from Galicia, began. Already on 16 May, the Austro-Hungarian 24th Infantry Division stopped 300 metres short of the barbed wire entanglements of fort VII “Prałkowce”. A hasty assault failed. Only after employing the heaviest 30.5 cm M.11 mortars that bombarded the front was the fort conquered on 30 May 1915. At the same time, from the north, the fort ring was attacked by the 11th Bavarian Infantry Division. There as well, after shelling the forts by German 42cm “Fat Bertha” cannons and 3 batteries of the heaviest Austro-Hungarian mortars, the German infantry managed to intercept subsequent forts until 1 June, from X “Orzechowce” to XII “Werner”. On 3 June the German troops seized Przemyśl and on 6 June a triumphant military parade took place to honour the recapture of the Przemyśl Fortress.

After the seizure of the fortress, Przemyśl functioned as a fortified bridgehead for a short period. Reduced Russian threat caused a resignation from further use of the forts. In the interwar period the unnecessary fortifications were demolished. Demolitions concerned mainly barracks in the gorge forts to reclaim construction materials, especially armour steel. The forts were spared the demolitions, as they were used by the Polish Army or private companies. Earthen elements of the forts have fully survived. In that state the fortress survived World War II. The abandoned forts were gradually overgrown with lush greenery. Local residents used the majority of buildings as illegal dumps. At the same time, the picturesquely located fortress gradually turned into a tourist attraction. The fortress also became an object of research in the field of military architecture as well as historical research. The fortress facilities began to be perceived as monuments of the defensive culture. Following the preparation of the first conservation documents in the 1970s, the forts were gradually entered into the registers of monuments. Some forts have been tidied up by social organisations and natural persons.

Description

The fortifications surrounding the city consist of two rings of permanent forts, a support line and a third ring of field fortifications. Defensive facilities are located at a distance between 1 and 12.5 km from the city centre. The VI defensive district in Siedliska, at a greatest distance from the city, is partially located on the territory of Ukraine.

The Przemyśl Fortress complex includes: an internal ring of fortifications in the polygonal system (the only such monument in Poland), a line of forts and supporting batteries, as well as an external ring with a perimeter of 54 km. The forts, preserved to this day, are a showcase of the development of the defensive art of the second half of the 19th century and early 20th century, from FS artillery sconces of the first stronghold, through artillery forts, centred armoured forts, short-range defence armoured forts, infantry forts, artillery batteries, to remnants of field fortifications. The historic complex of the Przemyśl Fortress is supplemented by: a network of fortress roads, arrangements of masking greenery, complexes of barracks in Przemyśl and the surrounding area, a former garrison hospital, a garrison court and a jail, areas of former fortress airports, a complex of the fortress railway station Przemyśl - Bakończyce, railway viaducts and bridges, officers’ canteen and a military club along with a passage and representational Knights Gate, headquarters and seats of other military institutions, remnants (relics) of gunpowder and munitions warehouses (the only preserved munitions warehouse of the ring is located in the VI defensive district Siedliska, currently in Ukraine). The historic Przemyśl Fortress complex with high compositional values, inscribed in the attractive landscape of the Przemyśl Foothills and the valley of the San river, forms a specific and unique fortified landscape.

Features recognised as monuments of history represent complexes of defensive facilities of the Przemyśl Fortress: the “Noyau” internal core, the supporting line of the fortifications and the external ring.

The core is the uninterrupted line of fortifications in the form of an earthen rampart and a dry moat connecting the crucial defensive facilities: artillery forts, batteries and sconces. A core, with a total length of 16 km, was established in the close proximity to the city, on both sides of the San river. Fortifications of the “Noyau” core represent a polygonal system of fortifications with elements of the bastion and tenaille systems. In the core’s perimeter, along the main communication routes, the so-called “barriers” were installed, consisting of lockable gates and flanking facilities, mostly in the form of a brick wall with embrasures. The barriers have survived to this day in different states of preservation. The Lower Sanok Gate with a brick guardhouse, the Upper Sanok Gate and the Gate in Zniesienie, which is however devoid of ramparts, have been preserved in the best shape. The main facility in the core is a citadel fort XVI “Zniesienie”, situated on top of the hill of the same name, towering above the right-bank part of Przemyśl. The fort, dating back to the years 1854-1855, was at that time the largest sconce of the fortified stronghold and bore the name of “Przemyśl Fort”.

It consists of 5 polygons formed by earthen ramparts and is surrounded by a moat. Inside, relics of concrete shelters have survived. In the left-bank part, the crucial feature is the artillery fort XIX “Winna Góra”, situated on a dominating hill of Zasanie that towers above the San river valley with a road and railway line. The fort was established on an irregular floor plan. Ramparts with traverses and emergency shelters, a moat and a rampart shielding the now non-existent barracks have survived to this day. The remaining artillery forts were most often established on a bastion-shaped plan terminating in a gorge rampart. The preserved elements are analogical to the ones in the fort XIX. Batteries in the core perimeter are arranged diversely, plus the perimeter includes ramparts with traverses and emergency shelters. Infantry sconces are similarly shaped or were established as ramparts bent in the form of tenaille or sawtooth.

Among the facilities of the supporting line, the battery 12 “Buszkowiczki” should be put forward as a candidate for the monument of history. In recent years it has undergone conservation works. The battery was established on a redan-shaped plan. Ramparts with traverses in the head section, a moat and a rampart shielding the now non-existent barracks have survived to this day.

Among the defensive facilities of the external ring of the fortifications, we need to mention features arranged along the so-called Northern Beltway of the Przemyśl Fortress. These facilities have been recently subject to conservation works. They represent a full range of defensive facilities: single- and dual-rampart main artillery forts, main and middle field armoured forts, short-range defence middle field forts (infantry forts), infantry sconces, coupled and stationary artillery batteries. 2 main single-rampart artillery forts and 1 dual-rampart fort have survived in the best condition. These are GHW VIII “Łętownia” in Kuńkowce, GHW XII “Werner” in Żurawica and GHW XI “Duńkowiczki” in Duńkowiczki. Forts VIII and XII include preserved ramparts with traverses and emergency shelters, moats with relics of caponiers that were blown up, posterns, central shelters and gorge barracks. In the barracks of fort XII there is a fortress museum, while fort VIII includes a reconstructed sponson flanking the barracks. Fort XI has additionally well preserved armoured batteries with remnants of retractable and rotating structures of Senkpanzer armoured towers. Two of the most massive forts - GHW IX “Brunner-Glinne” in Ujkowice and GHW XIII “San Rideau” in Bolestraszyce - include ramparts, moats with partially preserved embrasures and ruined caponiers in the counterscarp as well as posterns, while fort XIII additionally features impressive ruins of the gorge barracks with granite bases of armoured towers (the non-preserved part of the barracks has been reconstructed in the form of a “phantom”) and the only vaulted viaduct of the two-level intersection of fortress roads in the outfield. The single-rampart artillery fort XIIb “Bolestraszyce” includes a preserved rampart with traverses and emergency shelters, a moat with remnants of caponiers and “phantoms” in place of the barracks and the central shelter. The remaining facilities in this part of the ring include preserved earthen parts and, depending on the structure of particular facilities - ruins of barracks, emergency shelters, armoured batteries, casemates and caponiers.

In the part of the ring located on the right bank of the San river, three best-preserved forts and one FS sconce from the first fortified stronghold have been proposed for entry into the register of monuments. All these facilities are located in district VI “Siedliska”. These include the following forts: a single-rampart main artillery fort GHW I “Salis-Soglio” in Jaksmanice, main armoured fort GHW XV “Borek” with a coupled battery in Siedliska, an artillery fort, a single-rampart main fort GHW II “Łuczyce” in Łuczyce, and an FS sconce “Hurko B” in Hurko. The fort I “Salis-Soglio” includes extensive, casemated barracks grouped around 3 internal courtyards (barracks around the left courtyard are partially ruined), ramparts with cannon stations between traverses hosting emergency shelters, munitions warehouses with munitions elevator shafts, cannon elevator shaft, moats with Carnot wall, gorge courtyard and a damaged entrance gate. The armoured fort XV “Borek” includes two-storey, brick barracks, a central shelter, ramparts with ruins of the armoured battery and casemate with relics of the base of the casemate cannon, a gorge rampart with a roundel and an entrance gate, as well as a moat with remnants of a caponier in the counterscarp.

Renovation of the fort has been carried out in recent years: sheet metal cladding of the ceiling covering the barracks has been reconstructed together with steel window blinds with embrasures in all window openings and entrance doors, an observation post in the left shoulder; along the fort’s axis a dome of the armoured observation tower has been installed, relics of armoured towers has been erected, while on the access road a guard station and a barrier made of wooden perroquets have been arranged. The coupled battery includes a rampart with mortar stations separated by traverses, as well as a gorge rampart and a moat. Recently, relics of the gatehouse walls and foundations and floors of the kitchen in the battery outfield have been discovered. The FS “Hurko B” sconce includes a nearly complete rampart and a moat. Fort III “Łuczyce” includes one-storey, brick gorge barracks shielded by a rampart with a fortified passage, a central shelter adapted to an artillery firehouse, ramparts of heads and shoulders with traverses, emergency shelters and artillery firehouses, a gorge rampart with an entrance gate and a gorge roundel’s rampart. A concrete guardhouse has survived next to the access road.

compiled by The National Institute of Cultural Heritage