he earliest known defensive construction in the area was a burgh described as Lancicia or Lantsiza, located within the boundaries of today's village of Tum (3 kilometers from Łęczyca). It presumably served as the seat of a castellany, and in 1138-44 Salome von Berg (d. 1144), widow of duke Bolesław the Wrymouth (d. 1138), resided here. The development of this settlement was slowed down in 1241 by the Tartar invasion, and its definitive end as an important administrative center followed the destruction done by the Lithuanians and Teutonic Knights at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries. At that time a town was already functioning nearby, which in the course of time became the capital of a small principality of Łęczyca.
A mysterious ring with the inscription TOT VIVAS FELIX*QUOT VIVIT*TEMPORA FENIX was found during archaeological research on the site of the Tum settlement. The ring probably belonged to Salome von Berg, wife of Bolesław the Wrymouth.
RECONSTRUCTION OF A FORTIFIED SETTLEMENT IN TUM NEAR ŁĘCZYCA BASED ON RESEARCH CONDUCTED
BY THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND ETHNOGRAPHIC MUSEUM IN ŁÓDŹ
T
he date of construction of the brick stronghold in the town is not known, nor the name of its founder. However, it is generally agreed that the castle was erected by the Polish king
Kazimierz the Great (d. 1370) in the 1350s, i.e. shortly after the death of the Łęczyca prince Władysław Garbacz, and incorporation of these lands into the Polish state. The construction of the castle was accompanied by the fortification of the town, with which it formed a common defense system. During the reign of king Kazimierz, the building served as the royal seat and the center of local administration (the first administrator we know of was called Dziwisz of Węgleszyn).
SCULPTURE DEPICTING KAZIMIERZ THE GREAT AS THE FOUNDER OF THE ROYAL CASTLE
A
fter 1386, king
Władysław Jagiełło (d. 1434), established one of his residences in Łęczyca. According to preserved documents, this ruler visited here at least 36 times! The period of his and his sons' reign is one of the greatest in the history of the castle. At that time the most important state and church dignitaries often visited here, and conventions of Polish knighthood were held in its chambers. It is worth mentioning that the kings of the Jagiellonian dynasty stayed overnight in the castle of Łęczyca only with their personal servants and closest courtiers. The rest of the court stationed in the town, and only appeared in the stronghold to attend assemblies or at the invitation of the kings.
A CURTAIN WALL SURROUNDS THE CASTLE ON THREE SIDES (HERE A VIEW FROM THE NORTHEAST)
I
n 1406 the garrison surrendered the castle to Teutonic troops, who destroyed it to some extent. However, the destruction could not have been too serious, since already three years later in the castle chambers Władysław Jagiełło presided over a knights' convention, at which decisions were made to ally with Lithuania in case the Teutonic Knights attacked again. A year later, after the Battle of Grunwald, Teutonic prisoners of war were brought to Łęczyca, among them knights from Western Europe fighting for the Teutonic Knights. They were probably held in a cell under the gate, where they waited patiently to be redeemed from captivity.
AT THE CASTLE GATE
W
ładysław Jagiełło's younger son,
Kazimierz Jagiellończyk (d. 1492), like his father, often visited Łęczyca, and during the Thirteen Years' War he placed one of his main command centers and court headquarters here. His wife,
Elisabeth von Habsburg (d. 1505) visited the castle at least four times: first shortly after her marriage in 1454, then in 1462, together with her minor son Władysław,
future king of Bohemia and Hungary. Two years later she visited her husband with their newborn daughter Zofia, and finally in 1466, in the presence of all her children (by then she had eight of them), she spent Easter at the castle in Łęczyca. The last Polish king to visit here was
Sigismund III Vasa (d. 1632) traveling from his homeland of Sweden to Cracow. He was solemnly welcomed by the Archbishop of Gniezno
Stanisław Karnkowski and by the host of the castle, the starosta of Łęczyca Jan Stanisław Bykowski of
Gryf coat of arms.
COURTYARD OF THE ŁĘCZYCA CASTLE
M
uch earlier, however, in 1462 and 1484, a fire broke out in the town, destroying the royal castle to such an extent that it partially turned into ruins. Its repair was not undertaken until the 1560s by starosta Jan Lutomierski of
Jastrzębiec coat of arms (d. 1567), who, at a cost of 3000 florins, strengthened the castle walls, repaired the main tower, raised the gate tower, and erected a three-story edifice called the new house in the northwestern part of the courtyard. As a result of these works, both the castle's exterior and interior design, as well as its defensive capabilities, were adapted to the requirements of their time.
RENAISSANCE WINDOW STONEWORK DATES BACK TO THE XVI-CENTURY EXPANSION OF THE CASTLE
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t the beginning of the 17th century, the condition of the castle was already described as bad, and an inspection carried out in 1628-1632 revealed the need to repair its walls and ceilings. Further damage was done in the 1650s by the Swedes, and ...the Polish army, which in 1655 for several months shelled the Swedish garrison stationed at the stronghold. The medieval walls then could not withstand the fire of 17th-century artillery, and as a consequence the eastern wall of the castle was almost completely destroyed, and the main building (the old house), which was attached to it, partially collapsed. After the escape of the Swedes, some renovations were carried out here, but they could not stop the progressive degradation of the building. The work of its destruction was again done by the Swedes in 1705, after which the ancient castle is turned into ruins, with almost no windows.
THE CASTLE IN ŁĘCZYCA SEEN FROM THE SOUTH
A
fter the incorporation of Łęczyca by Prussia,
king Friedrich Wilhelm II (d. 1797) decided to build a modern fort in the town, which was to use the walls of the medieval castle (as part of its southeast bastion). Accordingly, a new gate was made in the eastern wall and the remains of the old house were demolished, and perhaps also the higher parts of the curtain walls. The cost of building the fort was estimated by the Prussian authorities at 39,851 thalers, a relatively modest amount. 2,000 people were to be employed on the construction work, which was supposed to guarantee completion of the project in a very short time.
PROJECT TO BUILD A FORT IN ŁĘCZYCA (1794), THE CASTLE IS MARKED WITH THE LETTER Z
HORNWORK - R, CROWNWORK - K
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t soon became clear, however, that the work would take much longer than originally planned, and the main reason for delays was ...a shortage of workers (it happened that out of 2,000 workers only a few dozen of them were working). Despite incentives and threats of various kinds used by the authorities, work progressed very slowly and the investment was finally completed only in 1798. Its cost of 65,291 thalers almost doubled the planned budget. A second, much more ambitious project to rebuild the town into a permanent fortress with a huge bastion outline, seven casemates and four gunpowder magazines (see figure below) never materialized.
UNREALIZED PROJECT TO REBUILD THE TOWN INTO A FORTRESS, 1798
D
uring the Napoleonic War, the new fortress did not actually play a role, because upon hearing that enemy troops were approaching, the Prussian garrison evacuated from Łęczyca, leaving the town open to the Polish legions of
General Jan Henryk Dąbrowski. In the period of the Duchy of Warsaw, the fort remained under the control of the Poles, who expanded it based on some of the unrealized Prussian plans. In 1809 the town was occupied by Austrian troops, who, finding the fortifications useless, dismantled much of them shortly thereafter. Coming back to the castle, in the early 19th century the local authorities treated it as a public repository of cheap bricks, which they sold to town residents at bargain prices. This trade led to the almost complete liquidation of the castle's outer walls and the upper part of the Gothic tower. "Wild" demolition of the castle was not stopped until 1840.
LITHOGRAPH BY KAZIMIERZ STRONCZYŃSKI, 1844-55
IN THE XIXTH CENTURY, A TOWER FOR FIRE BRIGADE TRAINING WAS ERECTED IN THE CASTLE COURTYARD
I
n the second half of the 19th century, an icehouse was built on the castle grounds, a court and a municipal jail functioned in preserved rooms of the new house, and a tower was erected in the courtyard for fire brigade training (which existed until 1927). After 1918, the township authorities did some repair work aimed mainly at preventing the walls from crumbling and soaking, but these were very limited due to lack of funds. In 1933, the Polish Sightseeing Society began efforts to establish a museum in the castle. Although the first plans to launch a such a facility were thwarted by the outbreak of World War II, shortly after the end of the war, in April 1948, thanks to the commitment of the society's members, the new house was renovated, in which the Łódź province authorities opened the headquarters of the local museum.
SOUTHERN WALL, 1919
NEW HOUSE AND REMAINS OF THE CASTLE GATE, 1919
B
efore this happened, as early as 1945, local scouts organized in the ruins a troop headquarters and a puppet theater named Avant-garde. Despite some renovations made here that were necessary for the opening of a museum facility, the castle initially differed only slightly in condition from its pre-war days. It received its present-day form only as a result of the comprehensive reconstruction carried out in 1964-76, which primarily included rebuilding of the main tower as well as the western section of the wall with the gate tower and the Renaissance new house.
SOUTH AND WEST FACADE OF THE CASTLE WITH THE MAIN TOWER, CONDITION IN THE 1960S AND TODAY
In 2020, during the reconstruction of National Road 91, which runs right next to the castle, construction workers found two coins: a Roman denarius, believed to date from the 2nd century AD, and a much younger copper shilling, minted in the 17th century.
he castle was erected in the southeastern part of the town, from which it was separated by a moat. It had a quadrangle plan with dimensions of 43 x 44 x 59 x 63 meters. Its perimeter walls measured 10 meters high and about 2 meters thick - along the eastern section and at the corners, a massive buttress provided their stability. The medieval castle consisted of external fortifications, the main tower and gate tower, an administrative building attached to the eastern wall, a wooden dwelling house by the gate tower, and unspecified wooden barracks of an economic function (kitchen, bakery, etc.). It could only be accessed by a drawbridge from the town side.
RECONSTRUCTION OF MEDIEVAL CASTLE BY J. SALM, "LEKSYKON ZAMKÓW W POLSCE"
PLAN OF ŁĘCZYCA TOWN FROM 1796, THE CASTLE IS IN THE UPPER RIGHT CORNER (WELL VISIBLE REMAINS OF THE MOAT)
T
he main tower stands in the southwest corner of the fortification. Up to a height of 10 meters, it has a square plan with a side of 9.5 meters, which then turns into an octagon. Originally, the tower measured about 23 meters in height, with an entrance at the 13-meter level, which was accessible only from the top of the walls. It is now crowned by a reconstructed octagonal brick superstructure, a conical helmet and a Renaissance attic. The main task of this element of the castle fortifications was to protect the curtains: southern on the side of the stream, and western on the side of the town. The corner tower also protected the junction of the town and castle fortifications and served as a prison for the nobility.
RECONSTRUCTED TOP OF THE MAIN TOWER
A
quadrangular gate tower, built on a square plan with sides of 9.8x10 meters, was incorporated into the northern part of the western wall. Its ground level housed a prison for plebs and a guard's chamber, while the upper floors served for some time as royal apartments, which the rulers used during their stay in Łęczyca. Access to the tower from the town was defended by a massive gate and a drawbridge.
RUINED CASTLE ON LITHOGRAPH BY NAPOLEON ORDA, VIEW FROM WEST OF NEW HOUSE AND REMAINS OF GATE TOWER
THE SAME VIEW TODAY, THE GATE TOWER WAS RECONSTRUCTED FROM SCRATCH
T
he eastern part of the courtyard was occupied by a building, called the old house, erected on a rectangular plan with sides of 10 x 35 meters, three-story, with a basement (after 1563). According to a description from the 16th century, it generally consisted of three parts: the southern representative part with large halls; central three-story great hallway and the northern administrative part. It housed, among other things, a municipal archive, a chancellery, a burgrave's chamber, and a scribe's chamber. Thus, the southern part of the old house presumably held meetings of the Royal Council and, in later times, the municipal court. Today this edifice no longer exists, and the only remnants of it are unspecified parts of the walls hidden in a former powder magazine.
RECONSTRUCTION OF THE OLD HOUSE, T. POKLEWSKI: "DOM STARY NA ZAMKU W ŁĘCZYCY"
THE FORMER POWDER MAGAZINE HIDES THE REMAINS OF THE OLD HOUSE'S VESTIBULE
CURRENTLY IT HOUSES THE MUSEUM TICKET OFFICE
D
uring the 16th-century rebuilding of the castle, the new house was erected in its northwestern part, which was a three-story, one-bay Renaissance residential edifice with sides of 8 x 16 and a height of about 18 meters. In the old house, one story was added and the vestibule was renovated by adding decorative vaults, as well as the windows were enlarged, and its interiors received new decoration. The gate tower was superstructed by one story, equaling the height of the new house, and these two adjacent buildings were covered with a common roof. The defensive qualities of the castle were also taken care of - to this end, the perimeter walls were strengthened and raised, as well as the main tower, which gained a Renaissance attic.
PLAN OF THE CASTLE IN ŁĘCZYCA, ABOVE - FROM THE XIV CENTURY, BELOW - FROM THE XVI CENTURY
1. MAIN TOWER, 2. GATE TOWER, 3. OLD HOUSE, 4. NEW HOUSE
NEW HOUSE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE XXTH CENTURY AND NOW (SHADED AREA)
oday the castle is a partial ruin, the shape of which results from a 20th-century reconstruction. The most impressive is the - almost entirely rebuilt - western wing with the gate, the new house and the main tower, the top of which is crowned with a Renaissance attic. The castle's northern and eastern walls are much lower than they were in the Middle Ages - and no buildings have survived in this part of the stronghold with the exception of a small 19th-century powder magazine.
WEST ELEVATION OF THE CASTLE AS SEEN FROM ZAMKOWA STREET
T
here is a small museum in the castle, with exhibitions on the history of the region and folk art. They cover three main thematic areas: The art exhibition, which includes portraits, cabinet furniture and Eastern and European white arms, genre paintings, landscapes, table ceramics, tiles, jewelry, some contemporary graphics and sculpture. Unfortunately, apart from stove tiles, none of these artifacts are part of the castle's original furnishings.
Referring to the traditions of folk ornamentation and craftsmanship, the ethnographic exhibition presents the daily life of a rural blacksmith's family. Here we see stylized interiors of a three-room cottage equipped with furniture and household utensils from the Łęczyca region.
ART EXHIBITION
ETHNOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION
H
istorical exhibition. It features plans of the medieval town walls, a model of the castle from the 14th century, unique photographs of exposed foundations of the old house and ruins of the new house before its reconstruction. There is also a separate exhibition on the Tum collegiate church. The collection is supplemented by guild documents, memorabilia, flags, decorations, as well as cannonballs and replicas of small arms.
HISTORICAL EXHIBITION
EXHIBITION OF LITTLE DEVILS
H
owever, the museum in Łęczyca is primarily famous for its original exhibition of ...little devils. It includes various incarnations of devil Boruta, as well as other devils known from fairy tales and legends: Lucifer, Beelzebub, Fugas and Rokita. Thus, here we have Boruta the brewer, farmhand, Venetian devil and villager, there are wooden figures depicting the devil miner, bartender and monk, there is Boruta with a girlfriend, a hooligan devil and even a naturist devil. Among the colorful figurines we can see a devil bathed in holy water and stealing fishing nets, as well as all sorts of nameless forest and mud little devils from many regions of Poland.
'BORUTA DEVIL IN MODERN SCULPTURES AND LEGENDS'
Boruta is a demon from ancient Slavic beliefs, who was identified with a bearded guardian of forests - a protector of animals and a patron of hunters. This is probably the origin of his name: Boruta from bór, meaning dense forest. According to another theory, the name was taken from the pine tree in which the demon was said to reside - pine is actually boruta in Old Polish. As a result of Christianization in the Middle Ages, the figure came to be identified with the devil.
According to legend, Boruta was a humble, poor forester living in the 14th century, who helped Kazimierz the Great get out of a swamp when his court became stuck in the surrounding woods. As a reward, he received nobility and other honors from the king, and using them over time he became a cruel and oppressor to his subjects. After his death, the people rushed to the castle of the hated ruler in search of the gold and money stored there. Nothing was found, however, and two days later the dead man's body also disappeared. A rumor spread that Boruta turned into a devil who hid in the dungeons, where he guards the looted treasures.
BORUTA GUARDING TREASURES, ENGRAVINGS FROM 1862
Admission to the courtyard free, to the museum - paid. Tickets relative expensive (6€ in 2023). The tour includes the tower.
The museum is visited without a guide - the tour lasts about 45-60 minutes.
You can take pictures indoors (without a tripod and lamp).
Dogs are not allowed on the museum grounds.
A steep staircase leads to the museum building. No facilities for the blind and dim-sighted people.
VIEW FROM THE MAIN TOWER TO THE GATE TOWER AND THE NEW HOUSE
GETTING THERE
T
he town is located about 40 kilometers north of the center of Łódź, on national road 91. Suburban trains from Łódź (direction Kutno) run here. The castle stands on Sienkiewicza Street, about 100 meters in a straight line from the Town Square. It takes 20 minutes to walk here from the train station.
There is a free parking lot near the castle. Address: Kazimierza Odnowiciela Street.
Bicycles can be brought into the castle courtyard.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. H. Jaworowski: [...] jak odbudowano zamek w Łęczycy, Z otchłani wieków, 1/1977
2. I. T. Kaczyńscy: Zamki w Polsce północnej i środkowej, Muza SA 1999
3. L. Kajzer, J. Salm, S. Kołodziejski: Leksykon zamków w Polsce, Arkady 2001
4. L. Kajzer: Zamki i dwory obronne w Polsce centralnej, DiG Warszawa 2004
5. J. Pietrzak: Zamki i przestrzeń społeczna..., 2002
6. G. Podruczny: Pruska twierdza w Łęczycy. Epizod z dziejów miasta z lat 1794-1806
7. T. Poklewski: Dom stary na zamku w Łęczycy, Acta Archeologica Lodziensia 26/1977
8. R. Rosin (red.): Łęczyca. Monografia miasta do 1990 r., Łęczyca 2001
9. S. Trawkowski (red.): Atlas historyczny Polski, PAN 1998
10.A. Wagner: Murowane budowle obronne w Polsce X-XVIIw., Bellona 2019
PARKING LOT AT THE CASTLE
Castles nearby: Besiekiery - ruins of a knight's castle from the 15th-16th centuries, 23 km Uniejów - castle of Gniezno archbishops from the 14th century, 32 km Sobota - castle relics from the 15th century, now a neo-Gothic palace from the 19th century., 37 km Borysławice Zamkowe - ruins of a 15th century Gothic castle, 39 km Lutomiersk - relics of a 14th/15th century knight's castle, 39 km
Przedecz - remains of a royal castle from the 14th century, 40 km Oporów - Gothic castle from the 15th century, 42 km
WORTH SEEING:
In the village of Tum, 3 kilometers away from Łęczyca, stands the Collegiate Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Alexius, considered one of the most beautiful examples of Polish Romanesque architecture. After its consecration in 1161, the temple served for church and princely conventions, including organization of synods, regarded as the first Polish parliamentary assemblies. In 1241 the church resisted a Tatar invasion, but in 1293 the Lithuanians managed to capture it, while the people hiding within its walls were killed or abducted into slavery.
In the 14th century the church was rebuilt in the Gothic style, but after the World War II (in 1939 it was shelled by Polish artillery and bombed by the Luftwaffe) it received a Romanesque decoration again. Of the oldest details, a magnificent tympanum and Romanesque frescoes have survived to the present day, as well as the tombs of church dignitaries from the 12th-13th centuries, discovered under the floor only in the 1950s. Outside, you can find on the facade of one of the towers characteristic notches resembling claw marks. According to legend, these are the footprints of the devil Boruta, who, in an attempt to prevent the temple from being built, wanted to overthrow this tower.
Nearby stands the wooden church of St. Nicholas from 1761, next to which an oak tree was planted in 1999 to commemorate the bringing of St. Adalbert's relics to the Tum Collegiate Church.
