In 1487 the Bath Tower (referred to as Hunger Tower) was built to support the New Gate. Only fragments of medieval walls and the Bath Tower located at Pocztowy Square have survived to this day. The preserved relics of the defensive system of Zielona Góra were appropriately developed and have become a new tourist attraction of the city.

History

Originally, Zielona Góra used wooden and earthen fortifications that were gradually replaced with stone and brick walls in the 14th and 15th century. The defensive walls circumscribed the entire medieval town with a circular strip. They were delineated along the current Lisowskiego Street, Jedności Street, Pocztowy Square, Kościelna Street and Powstańców Wielkopolskich Square. On the east, north and west side, the town was surrounded by a moat fed by water from the Złota Łącza river. Considerable elevation of land prevented digging the moat on the south side.  Access to the fortified town was possible through two gates incorporated in the circumference of the walls: The Upper Gate (located in the current Sobieskiego Street) and the Lower Gate (located in the current Żeromskiego Street). From the source literature we learn that these were two-storey buildings protruding in front of the line of walls. In order to facilitate communication with the “Na Piasku” suburban area established on the south side, outside the town walls, it was decided in 1487 to erect the third gate as part of the walls (the New Gate). The New Gate (situated in the current Pocztowy Square) was a two-storey building reinforced by the Bath Tower. Apart from the gates, the defensive wall also features three wickets. Due to the lack of repairs after the end of the Thirty Years’ War, the fortifications of Zielona Góra started falling into disrepair.  In the second half of the 18th century and in the 19th century the local authorities began demolishing the walls and town gates to acquire building material and facilitate communication with already vast suburbs. As the walls and gates were demolished, the drying and backfilling of the moat began. Apart from the Bath Tower that was a remnant of the former New Gate, few sections of the defensive walls have survived to this day: in Powstańców Wielkopolskich Square and in Sobieskiego Street. In 1982 the sheet metal cladding of the Bath Tower cupola was replaced, while in 1993 the brick face of the building was renovated. In 1985 and 2001 archaeological works were carried out at the walls and they considerably broadened our knowledge about them. In 2003 conservation works of the preserved relics of the town fortifications were conducted. For didactic and tourist purposes, a trace of the defensive walls and an outline of town gates were marked on the walkway paving.

Description

Zielona Góra was circumscribed by defensive walls in the 14th and 15th century. Currently, the line of defensive walls has survived only in a residual state. Small fragments have remained in Sobieskiego Street and Powstańców Wielkopolskich Square. The walls were built of fieldstones and bricks. The defensive walls had a circular shape. The medieval ring of walls was between 0.8 and 1.9m wide at the base and approx. 5-6 m tall. The preserved section in Powstańców Wielkopolskich Square is approx. 4 metres tall. In the south-eastern part of the Old Town, in Pocztowy Square, there is a Bath Tower, originally forming a compound with the New Gate. The brick tower, erected in 1487 on a rectangular floor plan, was renovated and redesigned multiple times over the centuries, among others in 1680 and 1717. The tower was used mainly as a defensive and lookout point. At first, the ground floor of the tower included a pass-through room, which was later walled-up. The Bath Tower owes its name to a currently nonexistent public bathhouse located nearby. At present, the Bath Tower is a three-storey building that is 35 metres tall, sticking to the principles of the Gothic style and covered with a Baroque cupola with a lantern.  The preserved fortifications represent an important element in the spatial layout of Zielona Góra.

The site is a property of the Municipal Office. The buildings are adequately exposed in the urban space and open to the public.

Author of the note Krzysztof Słowiński, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Zielona Góra, 10-11-2017

Bibliography

• Garbacz K., Przewodnik po zabytkach województwa lubuskiego, vol. I, Zielona Góra 2011, pp. 14-16;
• Kowalski S., Zabytki architektury województwa lubuskiego, Zielona Góra 2010, p. 428;
• Kowalski S., Mury obronne Zielonej Góry, Zielona Góra 2002, pp. 11-27;
• Kowalski S., Zabytki województwa zielonogórskiego, Zielona Góra 1987, pp. 230-231.
• Peryt-Gierasimczuk I., Czas architekturą zapisany. Zabytki województwa lubuskiego, Zielona Góra 1998, p. 246.