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Dunajec Castle Niedzica
ul. Zamkowa 2, 34-441 Niedzica
Tourist region: Pieniny i Spisz
The Dunajec Castle is a place that fires the imagination of more than just treasure hunters. The document found in it supposedly contained information on where the mysterious Inca gold was hidden... The kipu was probably brought to Niedzica by one of the owners of the building from the Berzevicz family, Sebastian, who travelled through Peru at the end of the 18th century. It may have been his souvenir from the trip.
The name Dunajec Castle first appeared in a document from 1325. The castle was recorded as the property of the family of Jan and Rykolf Berzevich, the lords of Brzozowica. After the Berzeviczes, Wilhelm Drugeth, the Zhupan of Spis, is mentioned as the lord of Niedzica Castle in 1330, followed by his brother Mikołaj. In 1425, the entire so-called Danube key was in the hands of Piotr Schwarz of the Berzevicz family, the treasurer for Sigismund of Luxemburg. The castle was a Hungarian watchtower on the border with Poland for a long time. On the otherside of the Dunajec River, the Polish side, was the Czorsztyn Castle.
Until 1470, the castle remained in the Rudyger's descendants' hands and then became the property of Emeric Zapolyi, the Zhupan of Spis, grandfather of Barbara, the Polish queen and first wife of Sigismund the Old.
For 60 years, the castle was in the possession of Hieronim Łaski, who passed it on to his son Olbracht. Known for his boisterous lifestyle, Olbracht Łaski first mortgaged the castle and sold it to Jerzy Horváth, who carefully rebuilt it and transformed it into a magnificent Renaissance residence. The castle was then leased to the Italian-Hungarian Giovanelli family. They were not interested in the castle, so it began to fall into disrepair. After the Giovanelli family line died off, the castle passed into the hands of Andrzej Horvath. The new owner rebuilt the ballroom where he hosted numerous lavish balls, making the castle famous throughout Hungary.In 1858, another Hungarian family, the Salamons, took over the castle.
After the end of the First World War, the castle found itself on Polish territory. It remained Salamons' property until 1945. From 1948, restoration and partial reconstruction work was carried out on the castle. A creative work house of the Association of Art Historians was created in some of the rooms, while others were opened to the public, creating a museum of interiors and historyof the Spis region. A seismological station of the Department of Geophysics of PANin 1960
The Niedzica Castle has been the setting for many films. Among other things, the film ‘Revenge’ was shot here. The castle rooms and immediate vicinity were the setting for the Polish war film ’Crazy Night’. In 1975, the film ‘Mazepa’ was made at the castle.The films ‘Janosik’ and ‘Holidays with Ghosts’ were also shot here.
Today, the castle serves as a museum and hotel and is one of the most fantastic historical attractions in the southern part of the Małopolska Voivodeship. An 'avenue' leads to the castle. Behind the entrance gate and the hallway is the lower castle courtyard, where guest rooms are located. The museum section shows the so-called Salamon chambers, furnished with objects from the 16th–19th centuries. A wooden staircase leads to the viewing terrace. Another gate leads to the upper castle and the castle dungeons, which were used as cellars and also as prisons (the so-called torture chamber washere). At the edge of the courtyard of the upper castle is a well more than 60 metres deep that was hewed out of solid limestone. In the upper castle, you can see the so-called Lord's Chambers: the hunting room, the chamber of the chamberlain, and the guard's chamber.
On the opposite side of the Dunajec River, the ruins of the Czorsztyn Castle dominates a rise above the shore of the lake.
