History & Haunting of: Ogrodzieniec Castle, Podzamcze, Poland This particular castle is being restored bit by bit, as are many of the castles in the country. It’s a piece of history certainly to be preserved and treasured. Established in the early 12th century, during the reign of Bolesław III Wrymouth (Polish: Bolesław Krzywousty), the first stronghold was razed by the Tatars in 1241. In the mid-14th century a new gothic castle was built here to accommodate the Sulimczycy family. Surrounded by three high rocks, the castle was well integrated into the area. The defensive walls were built to close the circuit formed by the rocks, and a narrow opening between two of the rocks served as an entrance. Ogrodzieniec Castle is a place reported by many to be haunted by dark forces. There have been locally famous reports of the “Black Dog of Ogrodzieniec” prowling the ruins in the night. This mysterious animal has been making appearances since before World War I and it was said that at night, no horse would cross the castle gate. One explanation for the specter can be found in the dark history of the Ogrodzieniec Castle. In 1669 Mikołaj Firlej sold Ogrodzieniec to Stanisław Warszycki. He was very wealthy, a dignitary of the Commonwealth, and was loyal to king John II Casimir. Warszycki was also famous for being cruel to his subjects. According to the legend, his patrimony Danków was built on the sweat and blood of local people. Another story says that he ordered to transform a corner grotto on the yard of the Ogrodzieniec castle into a torture chamber, which has been called Warszycki’s Torture Chamber ever since. In this chamber, Warszycki personally supervised the torture of his insubordinate subjects. He could not bear any opposition and one day he even had his own wife whipped in front of all the servants. It is said he listened to her moan with pleasure. The legend also says that Warszycki did not die of natural causes but when he was still alive he was kidnapped by demons and taken to hell. There, he was changed into a black hellhound dog and has haunted Ogrodzieniec Castle ever since. Witnesses claim that the black dog specter is much larger than an ordinary dog, and has burning red eyes. Ogrodzieniec Castle is a medieval castle in the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland. Rebuilt several times in its history, the castle was originally built in the 14th–15th century by the Włodkowie Sulimczycy family. The castle is situated on Castle Mountain, the highest hill of the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland, Poland. By archaicwonder on https://tumblr/ Warszycki became a rather prominent character in many legends. Danków was said to have vast dungeons filled with treasures and in contemporary Poland there were stories that Warszycki sold his soul to the Devil to enlist his help in the construction of the fortifications. The Devil supposedly took him to hell before he died. His enemies also accused him of being cruel to his peasants; in Ogrodzienic he presumably constructed a cave of tortures. Another story tells of how he became furious that his wife received a male guest, and suspecting them of an affair, blew up part of the castle. According to a variant of that story, he immured the unfaithful wife, before blowing up that part of the castle. Another just limits the penalty to public flagellation. An alternative reason for his cruelty against his wife is that she attempted to poison him. Yet another story describes his greedy side and how he promised his daughter, Barbara, a dowry and then gave her nothing out of greed and spite. Or, in yet another variant, he had nothing to give because his treasures mysteriously disappeared. Whether he hid them, or they were stolen, or the devil took them... who knows. Many of his former possessions have legends centered around him being a ghost. He haunts especially the Ogrodzienic and Olsztyn castles, with chains, black dogs, and various accessories (sources vary). en.wikipedia.org/ In 1470 the castle and lands were bought by the wealthy Cracovian townsmen, Ibram and Piotr Salomon. Then, Ogrodzieniec became the property of Jan Feliks Rzeszowski, the rector of Przemyśl and the canon of Cracow. The owners of the castle about that time were also Jan and Andrzej Rzeszowskis, and later Pilecki and Chełmiński families. In 1523 the castle was bought by Jan Boner. After his death, the castle passed to his nephew, Seweryn Boner, who replaced the medieval stronghold with a renaissance castle in 1530–1545. In 1562 the castle became the property of the Great Marshal of the Crown Jan Firlej, as a result of his marriage with Zofia- the daughter of Seweryn Boner. Later on, in 1587, the castle was captured by the arms of the Austrian archduke Maximilian III, the rejected candidate to the Polish-Lithuanian throne. In 1655, it was partly burnt by the Swedish troops, who -deployed here for almost two years- destroyed the buildings considerably. From 1669 on, the castle belonged to Stanisław Warszycki, the Cracows castellan, who managed to partly rebuild the castle after the Swedish devastations. About 1695 the castle changed hands once again becoming the property of the Męciński family. Seven years later, in 1702, over a half of the castle had burnt down in the fire set by the Swedish troops of Charles XII. After the fire, it was never to be rebuilt. About 1784 the castle was purchased by Tomasz Jakliński, who did not care for its condition. Consequently, the last tenants left the devastated castle about 1810. The next owner of the Ogrodzieniec Castle was Ludwik Kozłowski, who used the remains of the castle as a source of building material and sold out the castles equipment to the Jewish merchants. The last proprietor of the castle was the neighbouring Wołoczyński family. After the Second World War, the castle was nationalized. The works aimed at preserving the ruins and opening them to the visitors were started in 1949 and finished in 1973. Photo 1 by tom reedmission/ Photo 2 by Tamerlan view from the East Photo 3 by Bluescape Inside the medieval castle ruins of Ogrodzieniec/Podzamcze panoramio/photo/45232022 Photo 4 The torture chamber by tom reedmission Photo 5 6 & 7by User:Piotrus .wikipedia.org/ Museum_in_Ogrodzieniec_Castle_-_torture_instrument Photo 8 by dariusz79.bikestats.pl-
Posted on: Sat, 20 Dec 2014 19:48:00 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015