PL-91035 POLAND from Kasia

~ Poland (PL-91035) ~

Nice castling downtown in this place, but I have no idea to search this tourist information, hope the sender could providec me some introduction of Pozdrowienia z Olsztyna...

Thanks for Kasia
Sent: 17th May 2010

Received: May 2010

(Finally I got it the info here)

The history of the Castle in Olsztyn:

The castle was built between 1346–1353 and by then it had one wing on the north-east side of the rectangular courtyard. Access to the castle, lead from the drawbridge of the river Lyna, surrounded by a belt of defensive walls and a moat. The south-west wing of the castle was built in the 15th century, tower situated in the west corner of the courtyard , from the middle of 14th century, was rebuilt in the early 16th century and had a round shape on a square base and was 40 meters high. At the same time the castle walls were raised to a height of 12 meters and a second belt of the lower walls was built. The castle walls were partly combined with city walls, which made a castle looks like it had been a powerful bastion defending the access to the city. The castle was owned by Warmia Chapter, which until 1454 together with the bishop of Warmia, was under military protection of the Teutonic Knights. The castle played a huge role in the Polish-Teutonic wars by then. After the Battle of Grunwald in 1410 , the Poles took it after a few days siege. In the Thirteen Years War (1454–1466) it was jumping from hands to hands. The Knights threatened the castle and the town even in 1521, but the defense was very effective. They confined of the one, failed assault. Not many people know that with the history of the castle and the city of Olsztyn is connected with Nicholas Copernicus. He prepared defense of Olsztyn against the invasion of Teutonic. In the sixteenth century, there were two bishops of Warmia that has stayed there: Jan Dantyszek - "the first sarmatian poet, endowed with imperial laurel wreath for" Latin Songs "(1538, 1541) and Marcin Kromer, who formed with equal ease in Latin and Polish scientific and literary works (1580). Kromer consecrated the chapel of St. Anna, which was built in the south-west wing of the castle. In the course of time both wings of the castle lost military importance, which for residential purposes has become very convenient. In 1779 Ignacy Krasicki stopped here as well. After the annexation of Warmia in 1772, the castle became the property of the state board of estates. In 1845 the bridge over the moat was replaced by a dam connecting the castle with the city even better than before, therefore was dried. In 1901-1911 the general renovation of the castle was performed, however, several sections of the building were violated at the same time which they changed the original look of the castle e.g. putting on window frames in a cloister. The tower that was crowned in 1921 and again in 1926 in the halls of the castle, became a museum. The whole castle is a museum until today. In 1945 it became a residence of the Masurian Museum, which today is called the Museum of Warmia and Mazury. In addition to all that and the exhibition activities in Olsztyn, there are also popular events held within the frameworks of the Olsztyn Artistic Summer and so called “evenings of the castle” and “Sundays in the Museum”.