Poland

Lower Silesia: Książ Castle – you praise others, you do not know your own

Książ Castle is considered one of the most beautiful castles in Poland, and in terms of size it ranks third in our country. This is where we started our short tour of the castles of Lower Silesia.

Short, but very intense, as almost every place visited deserves a separate entry. So we started with a bump from this gem of Lower Silesia.

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Table of contents

Książ Castle

Ksiaz Castle majestically reigns on a hill in the Ksiazanski Landscape Park. It can be reached by road 35 from Walbrzych in the direction of Swiebodzice. The place is very well marked, there are signs for several paid parking lots, from where it is not far to the entrance itself (of course, the further away the cheaper).

We arrived in Walbrzych in the evening, so later that day we drove to the sunset overlooking the Castle :)

The next day first thing in the morning we went to visit the interior of Książ Castle. You reach the castle through a park or wooded areas (depends on which parking lot you left your car in), and enter through the pre-castle.

Walking through the courtyard to the entrance itself, one can admire numerous sculptures depicting mythological figures.

Entrance to the Castle itself is charged – PLN 30/person or PLN 35/person with a guide. We recommend you to buy your ticket online (29 zloty), but not because of this zloty, but because you bypass the large queues at the entrance to the ticket offices and can start the tour right away.

Tour of Książ Castle

The individual tour consists of following the number plates and God forbid you go the wrong way ;-) You’ll immediately be scooped up by staff members who will get you on the right track ;)

Unfortunately, any maps are missing here, descriptions of the various rooms are rather sparse. When we asked for some maps or leaflets we only got a very modest leaflet describing the history of the castle, and we like so much to know our current location and know what we are looking at, but on our own :(

Not to be discouraged, we set off along the designated route and began to discover the history of the place along with the most beautiful rooms. Interestingly, the history of Książ Castle dates back as far as the 13th century, when construction of a defensive stronghold began there (only later did it become a princely residence).

There are many turbulent episodes in the history of the castle, it was repeatedly destroyed, changed owners, although even here (as in Moszna Castle), there are some inaccuracies and lack of information, especially about the beginnings of its existence. Major damage occurred during World War II, when the Castle was adapted for German war quarters, and further destruction continued when the Castle fell into the hands of the Red Army.

Nevertheless, the interiors are better preserved and/or restored than at Moszna Castle. A large part of the history in the Castle is also dedicated to Princess Daisy of England, who became famous, among other things. Of its charitable activities. It was for her that John Henry XV von Hochberg built the Palm House, located near the Castle.

During the tour one sees, among other things. Baroque Salon, Green Salon, White Salon, Chinese Salon, Ballroom, Knights’ Hall and numerous offices. Finally, a gem awaits – Maximilian Hall, the most beautiful room in the entire castle.

After exploring the interiors, one walks out onto beautiful terraces with numerous ornate fountains and sculptures – there are as many as 14 terraces on the castle grounds!

The castle also hides secrets, and there are many legends surrounding it about its role in World War II, special underground tracks (yes yes, the golden train also has its episode here) or hollow tunnels and hidden treasures.

It is rumored that some of the work was done by inmates of the nearby Gross Rosen concentration camp, and the hidden rooms were to be used for weapons production, chemical experiments, and Książ itself was to serve as one of Hitler’s headquarters. A 96-meter-long World War II-era tunnel has been opened to tourists.

Is it worth going to Castle Książ?

We recommend you to visit Książ Castle, because it is definitely the biggest attraction of Lower Silesia and one of the biggest attractions of Poland! Having already seen really a lot of other castles, we were very positively surprised that those in Poland are not inferior to those abroad.

What is up for improvement is the organization of the routes and ticket offices themselves (queues to enter are all the way outside the Castle) and the maps we wrote about at the beginning of the post (a big plus for descriptions in foreign languages).

If we were to come here again, however, maybe we would take a guided tour, or maybe there would be an audio guide by then? ;)

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And what are your impressions?
Let us know in the comments!

We also recommend more photos in our gallery:

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