Malbork

A few weeks ago I have taken you to Nidzica. It proved to be pretty disappointing. To make it up to you, I have decided to go still this summer to the most important castle of the Teutonic Knights - Marienburg or Malbork. This will be the fourth castle that we are visiting together, after Bytów and Olsztyn.

Why did I chose Malbork? Because it is the best. It has been proven and certified by UNESCO, which enrolled Malbork on the World Heritage Sites List.

The Malbork castle is so big, that to fully assess its architecture we will first look at a model.

Let's move towards the main entry.

The Malbork castle was built and rebuilt between thirteenth and fifteenth centuries. It lies between two arms on the Nogat river. As a result, only one side of the castle was easily accessible. As you might have guessed, this very side was well guarded by high walls and a moat.

When visitors crossed the bridge over the moat, they were faced with a huge gate.

It was closed with a special wooden grid.

The castle comprised three levels - the Lower Castle, the Middle Castle and the High Castle, each of them constituting a separate defense line. The courtyard of the Middle Castle was large enough to accommodate large groups of visitors.

The Middle Castle was the residence of the Great Masters of the Teutonic Knights Order. You can see some of them here.

This is where they were receiving their noble guests. They had for this a big refectory (or dinning room).

On the walls the guests could admire paintings showing scenes from the Bible or from the history of the Knights.

The main refectory had a special system of floor heating, connected to a huge oven on the floor below.

In warm days, the Master could also invite his guests to the Summer Refectory.

The Summer Refectory is relatively large but the ceiling is supported by just one column. There is a story saying that one day the "government" of the Teutonic Knights was gathered in the Summer Refectory. A Polish person has let some troops know and they tried to shoot in the direction of this single column. They have almost made it.

The High Castle was mainly a secure defense place, guarded by yet another wall and moat.

The gate was guarded day and night.

The bascule bridge could be easily opened and closed thanks to this counterweight.

The courtyard of the High Castle was smaller, fenced with windows from which the defenders could throw stones or hot oil.

In the middle of the courtyard stands a well that was ensuring to the defenders of the castle supplies of clean water.

The High Castle was equipped with a big kitchen. The knights were only eating twice a day, once around noon and a second time in the evening. They only had meat once a week.

The High Castle had obviously its own refectory. On the wall you can see the Virgin Mary - after all the castle was dedicated to her (Marienburg means "city of Mary").

The bedrooms were modest. You may notice also that the beds were short for contemporanous standards. This is because the knights were shorter than men of today.

In the event that invaders would manage to enter the High Castle, the last defence line was in the Gdanisko (Dansker) tower. It was accessed by a special corridor. On one side you can see the castle ...

... on the other the Nogat river.

The corridor had special wholes, through which the defenders could throw on the attackers rocks or boiling water.

Nowadays, the castle is obviously a safe place. It houses a museum where masterpieces of medieval art are exhibited. Like this wooden altar, probably made in the workshop of Vit Stwosz, the author of the altar in the St. Mary Casilica in Kraków.

I really encourage you to visit the Malbork castle. It is truely impressive. And the inhabitants are very nice, I must admit.

(Pssst. If you are afraid of the Knights, you can also try the virtual tour of the Malbork castle).

Nidzica

Nidzica is a small town in the North-East of Poland. When I arrived there I was not really impressed. A very typical square with a very typical Town Hall ...

... surrounded by very typical residential buildings.

But when I started to walk on the left side of the square, I have noticed a building that looked more interesting. It turned out to be the seat of the National Archives.

Then came another one, an old brewery and distillery that is still operational.

Finally, up on a hill, I have spotted through the leaves the main reason for my visit.

This monument indicates clearly that the place has some military history that dates back to the Middle Ages.

Long, high walls used to be in the past a strong defence line.

From the top of the tower, the defenders could see potential attackers from far away.

I am sure that you guessed it right. The biggest tourist attraction of Nidzica is its castle, built in the second half of the fourteenth century by Teutonic Knights who ruled this part of Poland at that time. The main entrance looks similar to the city gate from Olsztyn that we saw last year.

If you look up, you will notice that the Teutonic Knights were pretty modern when it comes to their ways of spending free time.

The inner courtyard is rather narrow.

The unusual decorations around the courtyard are due to the fact Nidzica houses a gathering of fans of speculative fiction.

The Nidzica castle is a convenient place for this type of events because it offers a pretty good restaurant with regional dishes ...

... and a small hotel.

I propose that we go up to the first floor.

You will find there a library. Unfortunately it was closed when I came there.

All around the gallery on the first floor there is an exhibition showing what Nidzica looked like in the past. Just as an example, in 1914 the market square was full of horses.

At that time Neidenburg, as it was called, belonged to the German Empire. But during First World War it was heavily damaged by Russian soldiers, like these Cossacks.

All in all this is it, not much more to see here. Let's then take a final look at the castle itself.

I must admit that I was slightly disappointed by the Nidzica castle, after seeing Bytów I was expecting a bit more. Still, if you are in the neighbourhood you can drop by to taste some delicious duck dumplings.

Olsztyn

I have decided that we need some new type of adventure on this blog. So today I will take you on what they call a city game - a series of riddles that will allow us to visit the most interesting spots in Olsztyn.

Olsztyn is the most important city in the Warmia and Mazury region. In early sixteenth century it was the residence of the most famous Polish astronomer - Mikołaj Kopernik (aka Nicolaus Copernicus). Therefore, the game proposed by the Tourist Information in Olsztyn is called "Chasing Copernicus".

* * *

First we need to enter the Old Town via the High Gate. You can easily guess where its name comes from.

To answer question number one we need to turn back and see the picture of Our Lady. What colour is the background of the picture?

Yes, it is gold. We have the first answer! Now we need to follow the Staromiejska Street (meaning "the Old Town Street").

It is surrounded by nice residential buildings.

Now we have to turn left and walk towards the Saint Jacob church. Yes, you guessed it right, it is one of the spots of the Polish Route to Santiago de Compostela.

The church was built in fourteenth century in the gothic style.

The gothic influence can be easily recognised on the ceiling, similar to the one that I have shown you recently in Barczewo.

The altar is also typical for this period. The most famous altar of this type is in Kraków. I definitely need to take you there soon.

Here we have another question. A legend says that during a hunting party a deer run into the church in order to seek refuge. As a memory of it, one of the chandeliers is decorated with ...

Yes! With deer antlers. We have another clue! We can then leave the Saint Jacob church and look for the Old Town Market Square. The building in the middle is of course the Old Town Hall.

Now we need to find a sundial. Here it is - let's check the time.

I am afraid it is a bit too cloudy for this. But it should be somewhere after 9AM. The next riddle directs us to a mock-up of the Old Town that should stand somewhere on the Market Square.

Here it is! We need to check what is the number given on the mock-up to the High Tower that we have seen as the first object in Olsztyn.

Number one. Another riddle solved. Now we need to define an axe based on the sundial again and note the name of a little street that will be on the left hand side. It is called "Jana z Łajs" and is thus honoring the first mayor of Olsztyn who was serving there in fourteenth century. We need to go up the street to see the city open air theathre.

And just behind stands the biggest pride of Olsztyn - the castle. It was built by Teutonic Knights but they did not enjoy it too long. In one of the peace treaties signed in middle fifteenth century it was assigned to Poland.

Next to the main entry gate we can meet the one we have been chasing - Copernicus himself. He was administering the castle and the region from 1516 to 1521.

I have been told we need to touch his nose as it brings luck.

Let's enter the courtyard of the castle.

Our last riddle relates to the black statue standing there.

Well, it is called a Prussian old lady. Though in fact it represents a man. It has something to do with the old pagan rites of the region.

Now let's move all the right letters into the right cases to check the password. Yes, I am sure you guessed it already. It is Copernicus. As a reward we can now enter the castle to visit the museum.

The long hall on the first floor will lead us to a special feature of the castle.

On the wall you can admire the experimental table of Copernicus. It allowed graphic presentation of the spring equinox date, which allowed then to determine the dates of movable church holidays. Ultimately, it made possible the reform of the calendar. 

Through these windows, the sunlight was faling on the table and thus drawing the lines that Copernicus used in his analysis.

On the second floor, the museum exhibits the traditional crafts of the region, a bit like what we have seen in Bytów recently. Here come the table clothes ...

... and a typical bedroom.

Through the windows of the third floor it is possible to admire some nice views of Olsztyn, with its residential buildings ...

... and the protestant church close to the castle.

I hope that you have enjoyed this city game and our trip to Olsztyn. For all those who wish to complain I have reserved a special place where they can rethink their attitude.