Historic sites
Gothic castle with a tower and a Baroque portal from 1666, the seat of a cultural centre
Historic sites
a neoclassical town hall from 1836 with two corner turrets by the market square
Churches and monasteries
Gothic church from 1456, rebuilt in the Baroque period, with an organ from 1844
Churches and monasteries
a late Baroque cemetery chapel from the 18th century with a gravestone to the victims of the NKVD camp
Cemeteries and monuments
19th-century cemetery with eight matzevot, with the graves of the grandparents of the composer Franz Waxman
Things to do in Toszek: the Gothic castle rebuilt by the Colonna family, an 1836 Classical town hall, a Baroque church with an organ and two cemeteries.
Toszek is a small town with a castle above its old centre, a market square and monuments that are easy to see on foot. The five places on the list are the castle, the town hall, a church and two resting places, including the Jewish cemetery.
The castle in Toszek at ulica Zamkowa 10 stands on the western hill above the old town. It consists of an upper castle and a forecourt separated by walls, with a gate flanked by two square towers that turn octagonal higher up. It was built at the turn of the fifteenth century on the site of a wooden stronghold, destroyed by the Hussites in 1429 and rebuilt in the seventeenth century by the Colonna family. Today it houses the Toszek Castle Culture Centre.
On the eastern side of the square, at ulica Bolesława Chrobrego 2, stands the town hall of 1836, listed as a monument. It is a three-storey Classical building with a monumental facade and two corner turrets. It replaced an older town hall of 1767, was damaged in the Second World War and was rebuilt in the late 1950s. Today it is the seat of the town authorities. More buildings of this kind are listed under architecture in Toszek, and independent routes are on the page what to do alone in Toszek.
The Church of St Catherine of Alexandria at ulica Kościelna 3 was built in 1456 after the Hussite destruction, on the site of a church of St Peter from 1165. In 1713-1715 Baron Jan Dietrich von Peterwaldski rebuilt it in the Baroque spirit, hence the late Baroque interior. The church has an organ by Moritz Robert Müller from 1844, and in 1762 Pope Clement XIII established one of the first confraternities of the Sacred Heart in the world here.
The Cemetery Chapel of St Barbara on ulica Parkowa is a late Baroque branch church from 1720-1750, listed as a monument. It burned down in 1833 and was rebuilt in 1849. It is built of brick, with a rectangular nave and a trefoil eastern end. Beside the chapel there is a gravestone commemorating prisoners of an NKVD camp.
Yes. The Jewish cemetery on ulica Wielowiejska covers about 0.2 hectares and was founded in the first half of the nineteenth century. It was devastated during the Second World War, and eight standing matzevot, stone slabs with Hebrew inscriptions, survive. Hirschel Wachsmann and Ernestine Blumenthal, grandparents of the composer Franz Waxman, are buried here. It is a place of remembrance where quiet is expected, and entry is free.
The castle, the town hall on the square and the Church of St Catherine. The Jewish cemetery and St Barbara's chapel make short extra stops.
In the seventeenth century the Colonna family rebuilt it. Today a culture centre works inside.
Eight standing matzevot from the first half of the nineteenth century, on ulica Wielowiejska.
A Baroque rebuilding of 1713-1715, an organ by Moritz Robert Müller from 1844 and a Sacred Heart confraternity established in 1762.
