Location and description

Złotoria Castle is located on the right bank of the Vistula river, next to the Drwęca river mouth. It was built on an elongated rectangular floor plan and comprised the tower constructed above the gate, the residential part, a courtyard surrounded by walls and the castle grounds. From the east, the castle was guarded by a moat. Part of the tower as well as remnants of the peripheral walls and the castle grounds have survived to the present day.

History

In 1343, at the request of King Casimir the Great, a brick castle was built to replace a wooden hillfort of the Dukes of Mazovia. It was a borderland castle situated near the place where the Drwęca river flows into the Vistula river, on the boundary between the Dobrzyń Land, owned by the Kingdom of Poland, and the State of the Teutonic Order, just 6.5 km away from Toruń. Following the king’s death, Złotoria was inherited by Casimir IV, Duke of Pomerania; however, it was taken over twice (in 1373 and 1375) Leszek the White, Duke of Gniewkowo. The forces of King Louis I laid siege to Złotoria Castle in 1376. Casimir IV, once seen by King Casimir the Great as the future successor to the Polish throne, died during the battle. King Louis I granted the conquered castle together with the Dobrzyń Land to Vladislaus II of Opole, who held it in fealty. However, the latter handed Złotoria over to the Teutonic Knights in 1391 as a pledge to guarantee the repayment of a loan, which aroused indignation of King Władysław Jagiełło due to the strategic location of the castle. The king purchased the castle in 1404 as a result of the Treaty of Raciążek. In 1409, Złotoria was under siege by the Teutonic Knights led by Grand Master Ulrich von Jungingen. After eight-day resistance, on 2 September, the castle was successfully besieged and the defending Polish crew were murdered. The Grand Master ordered that the fortress be destroyed so it can no longer pose a threat to the land owned by the Teutonic Order. Three years later, in 1411, Złotoria was chosen as the place for handover of the documents related to the First Peace of Thorn. In line with the peace treaty, the Teutonic Knights were supposed to return the Dobrzyń Land and pay contribution for the destroyed Złotoria Castle (which they never did). Following the fall of the State of the Teutonic Order and the Second Peace of Thorn, Złotoria lost its strategic importance. Ruins of the castle were gradually dismantled until the 19th century.

The site is open to visitors.

Prepared by Adam Paczuski, National Heritage Board of Poland, Regional Branch in Toruń, 16-04-2018

Bibliography

• Kajzer L., Horonziak A.: Budownictwo obronne ziemi dobrzyńskiej, Włocławek 1995
• Kajzer L., Kołodziejski S., Salm J.: Leksykon zamków w Polsce, Warszawa 2002
• Olszacki T.: O trzech zamkach ziemi dobrzyńskiej w piętnaście lat później [in:] Rocznik Muzeum Ziemi Dobrzyńskiej w Rypinie, Vol. II, Rypin 2011
• www.bobrownikinadwisla.pl (prepared by Buller W.)