Malbork Castle, Poland. 3 July 2008

[Cruachan]

OK, first a little background. If I have understood the forum rules correctly, my first thread has to be made in the "New Member Reports" section and that's fine. However, I thought it appropriate to say that, had I been posting this thread "for real", it would have been in the "Heritage and Historical Sites" section. So... Malbork Castle is situated in the town of the same name on the River Nogat in eastern Poland. It is a World Heritage Site and dates from the 15th century when it was constructed by the Teutonic Knights. At the time this region of what is now Poland was part of Prussia. The castle itself is vast - it is the largest castle, by area, in the world and, even at the date of its completion, it was the largest brick built Gothic castle in existence. If you asked a school kid to design a castle with all the traditional castle features, then I suspect that the result would be very much like Malbork. The castle was severely damaged during World War 2 and, to add to the agony, what was left was extensively damaged by a serious fire in 1959. However, reconstruction began in 1962 and is still going on today. Anyway, here are the photographs.

The castle seen across the river Nogat
http://i497.photobucket.com/albums/rr335/JimStanMau/DSC05919_malbork_castle.jpg

The castle seen across the river Nogat - the Water Gate prominent in centre shot
http://i497.photobucket.com/albums/rr335/JimStanMau/DSC05933_malbork_castle.jpg

The Water Gate from inside the castle
http://i497.photobucket.com/albums/rr335/JimStanMau/DSC05907_gatehouse_malbork.jpg

View of the castle from the land side looking across the dry ditch
http://i497.photobucket.com/albums/rr335/JimStanMau/DSC05771_malbork_castle.jpg

View through the gatehouse looking into the castle
http://i497.photobucket.com/albums/rr335/JimStanMau/DSC05783_malbork_castle.jpg

Entrance to the keep
http://i497.photobucket.com/albums/rr335/JimStanMau/DSC05791_malbork_castle.jpg

Castle interior - fan vaulted ceiling
http://i497.photobucket.com/albums/rr335/JimStanMau/DSC05820_fan_vaulting_malbork.jpg

A corner of the chapel
http://i497.photobucket.com/albums/rr335/JimStanMau/DSC05894_chapel_malbork.jpg

Decorated loggia
http://i497.photobucket.com/albums/rr335/JimStanMau/DSC05868_loggia_malbork.jpg

The castle kitchens
http://i497.photobucket.com/albums/rr335/JimStanMau/DSC05865_kitchen_malbork.jpg

The castle kitchens
http://i497.photobucket.com/albums/rr335/JimStanMau/DSC05861_kitchen_malbork.jpg

Statues of the Teutonic Knights in the castle grounds
Close inspection reveals plenty evidence of war damage
http://i497.photobucket.com/albums/rr335/JimStanMau/DSC05845_teutonic_knights.jpg

Thanks for looking.

J