Toszek Castle

Toszek Castle stands on the western hill above the old town. The complex consists of an upper castle and a forecastle separated by walls, with a gate flanked by two square towers that change higher up into octagons. Today it houses the Toszek Castle Cultural Centre.

From a settlement to a Piast castle

The castle was built at the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries on the site of a timber-and-earth fortified settlement, and earlier a wooden stronghold had stood here, the seat of a castellany of the Silesian dukes. In 1429 it was destroyed by the Hussites. In 1429-1484 it was the seat of Duke Przemysław of Toszek of the Oświęcim line of the Piasts, and by 1480 it had been rebuilt. From 1484 it belonged to the dukes of Opole, and from 1532 it was a fief of the kings of Bohemia, and then the property of the Habsburgs.

Rebuilding in the Colonna era

In 1592 the castle was bought by the Reder family, and in 1638 their rule ended. The castle then belonged to Kasper Colonna, who in 1656 became an imperial councillor and a count of the Empire. In his time, in 1650-1666, the Italian architect Giovanni Seregni rebuilt the complex in the Baroque style. The towers by the gatehouse were created then, along with a new rectangular palace building with two corner towers and loggias and arcaded galleries on the courtyard side. On the gate a stone portal with the Colonna coat of arms and the date 1666 has survived.

From the original structure a four-storey tower has survived, square at the base and octagonal higher up, as well as the middle part of the entrance gate, that is the first masonry structure. Under the tower there are deep dungeons. In 1760 the stable building was converted into an orangery.

Fire and rebuilding

In the 18th century the castle changed owners many times, and in 1797 it was bought by Count Franz Adam Gaschin. In 1811 it was destroyed by a fire. The ruin was bought in 1840 by Abraham Guradze, and his family owned it until 1945. In 1957-1963 the castle was partly rebuilt.

Around Toszek

In Toszek there are also the Toszek Synagogue and the Jewish Cemetery in Toszek. In the area there is also the Church of St Martin in Paczyna.

Practical information

• Address: Zamkowa 10, Toszek.
• The castle is entered in the heritage register and a cultural institution operates here; check the hours and rules of visiting on the website zamektoszek.pl before you travel.