Birów Hill Stronghold

The Birów Hill Stronghold is a reconstructed stronghold on Birów Hill in the village of Podzamcze near Ogrodzieniec, in the Częstochowa Upland. The hill has a shallow hollow at the top, surrounded by rock outcrops that form steep cliffs on the outer side. This made the site easy to defend, and people lived here in many periods.

Who lived on Birów

Archaeologists examined the caves and rock shelters of the massif and established that the first inhabitants appeared here at the end of the Neolithic or the beginning of the Bronze Age. They were farmers of the Funnel Beaker culture, followed by people of the Corded Ware culture and the Lusatian culture. One of these sites is the rock shelter in Birów Hill (northern).

At the turn of the 6th and 5th centuries BC the hill brought together several settlements from the area, which were later destroyed during a Scythian raid. Germanic peoples appeared later, and around the 8th century AD the Slavs, who left behind, among other things, a barrow cemetery from the 8th-10th centuries in the forest on the south-eastern side of the hill.

The medieval stronghold

The stronghold was built at the end of the 12th century. Natural rocks were incorporated into its defensive walls, and the missing sections were filled by a stone-and-earth box rampart. In the 13th or early 14th century it was reinforced with a stone-and-timber rampart, leaving a single entrance through a rock cleft on the west side, later closed by a wall with a gate.

The stronghold served as a watchtower on the border with Silesia, by then mostly Bohemian. It was destroyed in the first half of the 14th century, during the fighting between Władysław the Elbow-high and the Bohemians. It had no water, so the wooden elements burned from incendiary arrows. Archaeologists found burnt remains of the structure, arrowheads and crossbow bolts, fragments of swords and axes, and a silver Prague groschen of Wenceslaus II.

The stronghold was not rebuilt. Its role was soon taken over by a masonry castle, now known as the ruins of Ogrodzieniec Castle.

The rebuilt stronghold

The remains of the stronghold had faded into the landscape. Its existence was only discovered after archaeological work in the 1990s, and a decision to rebuild it followed. The stronghold has been open to visitors since 2018.

A gatehouse tower with a log-framed rampart, a chieftain's hut and a watch and defensive tower have been built. Display cases show finds that help reconstruct the everyday life of the Slavs of that time: fragments of pottery, spindle whorls, arrowheads, horseshoes, parts of shears and decorative brooches. They are complemented by a small geological display with fossils, including ammonites and belemnites.

Practical information

• Location: Podzamcze near Ogrodzieniec, Zawiercie County.
• Visiting hours and entry rules are given on the site's website gorabirow.pl, so check them before your visit.
• The Trail of the Eagles' Nests, which links the castles and strongholds of the Jura, runs through the area.