We have had the most incredible day at Marlbork Castle. This Unesco heritage site is a 13th century Teutonic castle with an incredible history of achievement, architecural wonder and devastation, both from natural disaster and the effects of man and wars.
Our Lonely Planet guidebook suggested that with the Audio Guide, two hours would do the castle justice. We found that we needed more like five hours. The sheer scale of the Castle is hard to put into words, yet it is not overwhelming as the audio guide is excellent and the staff are helpful . It is considered to be the largest castle in the world based on land area and the largest red brick castle in the world.
Our guide book also guaranteed that you will get lost. As someone who constantly gets lost and has an impaired sense of direction, I am happy to report that with the guidance of our audio guide and the helpful staff, we didn’t get lost once.
At the Castle, not only do you learn, you get to have fun discovering hidden doorways and passages. So often we were directed to head to a small door in the wall that was closed and looked locked. It made us feel like kids again, exploring what felt like, “off limits” areas.
A disclaimer: there are too many photos today, but we so enjoyed our visit to the castle that we wanted to share some of our impressions.
Marlbork Castle’s strategic position on the Nogat River is very picturesque, especially later in the day as it catches the setting sun.
This photo of the castle shows its devastation in 1945. Starting in the 1930’s, with Hitler’s rise to power, the Nazis used the castle as a pilgrimage for Hitler Youth and the League of German girls. As well, this castle served as a blueprint for the Order Castles of the Third Reich .
This map shows the rich heritage of castles in this area. It also shows the recent portion of our route through Chelmno, Grudziadz, Kwizdyn and ultimately Gdansk. Next we head west along the sea to Gydinia and the ferry to Karlskrona Sweden,
Gate Passage of the Middle Castle. Access is secured with 5 iron gates, arranged one after another along the gate passage. This incredible gate has the original metal gate with the original lead ball system to lower and open the door. Remarkably, eight centuries later, the system still works. As well, the clever design allowing water to flow away and out, and the heavy original doors with the smaller cutout door for security.
The Great Refectory, in the Western Wing of the Palace, is recognized as the most impressive interior in the entire architecture of the Teutonic Order. Notable are the slender pillars which support its impressive expansive vaulted ceiling, the heated floors withanunderfloor furnace, the painted murals on the walls, etc. The hall seated about 400 people: for feasts in Teutonic times, as a dining hall in the Polish period, and a receiving space for important visitors - a most impressive room with a wonderful quality of light from the fourteen huge pointed arch windows.
This poster is quite sobering when you visit the extraordinary exhibits of weapons over the centuries and realize exactly what they can do in such graphic detail.
The rose garden was a surprise as so much of what we have seen dealt with defence, fortifications, etc. But, when at peace, the men would tend the garden.
This map shows the postal system created by the Teutonic knights. As we learned about the creative and effective forward thinking methods used by the Teutonic Order through their architecture, etc, we were further interested to learn about the postal system they devised. With fresh horses at strategic points, mail could be delivered quite quickly over long distances. Perhaps Canada Post could revert to the horse delivery days!
We were visiting the exhibit of mills and ways they sustained a large castle when the young man working there beckoned Barry over. It turns out that he had seen our Canadian flag on our bag and he wanted to visit.
His sister lives in Toronto and he visits her there. He loves Canada and he finds Canadians to be very polite (thank you!). Also, he is wearing a Toronto Raptors cap and is cheering them on in their bid to win the championship.
This sculpture of Christ at Gesethame is considered one of the most important and valuable pieces in the Castle. It has been taken many places around the world on exhibit. This sculpture is beloved for the emotion it portrays of Christ’s knowledge and acceptance of his fate.
Dinner at our hotel, Hotel Nedal. We have enjoyed the breakfasts here - truthfully it is a given that breakfast in Poland is always a highlight. This quirky dining room has a plethora of styles and decorations, including our dinner companion, the leopard.
And Barry had Bigos (Polish Hunter’s Stew) in a jar. We thought that the translation was off, but it indeed is served in a jar. Nonetheless, he really enjoyed it.
We should have stopped at the entree. We chose a dessert of grilled pineapple, banana and ice cream. The banana didn’t look too appetizing and it might have been tastier grilled without the skin. And as Barry wondered....where’s the ice cream? However, this is all about the unexpected in travel.
