Slupsk Castle

The Pomeranian Dukes Castle in Słupsk was erected in 1507. At first it was a gothic building, much smaller than now. In the same year duke Bolesław X rebuilt it and enlarged in the Renaissance style. The castle complex consists of the castle itself, a small, half-timbered building housing the board of directors of the Museum of Central Pomerania, the Castle Mill, the Fishermen Gate (the remains of Słupsk fortifications, the Richter’s Granary, moved element by element from the place it originally was built at the intersection of Kopernika and Wolności streets) and St. Jack’s church. The Castle Mill is one of the oldest operating industrial objects in Poland.

In the past the castle was a residence of Pomeranian dukes of the Griffin dynasty. While the Germans ruled in Słupsk, the object was used, alter alia, as wheat and weapons warehouse as well as a prison, which contributed to devastation thereof. After II World War it was restored and the tower’s cap was rebuilt. Today the castle serves as the seat of the Museum of Central Pomerania in Słupsk.

The castle kept its original design of a rectangle, its interior dimension being 17 x 35 meters. The plastered brick building consists of three floors covered with a hipped roof. Attached to the body of the castle, in the middle of the northwest façade is a polygonal tower covered with a multi-hipped cupola topped with a lantern. Next to the tower, in between second and third floor, there is a rather small, rectangular annex with arcaded loggia. The castle axis is defined by rectangular window openings, the corners of all façades emphasized by rustication. The southeast façade is divided into three by breaks reaching as far as first floor; in southern corner of this façade and in the southwestern façade there are three buttresses. In the southwestern façade there is a polygonal bay and it the northeastern a triangular one. All façades are topped by a beveled cornice. Inside partially and in the second floor only original barrel vaults with lunettes have been restored, and in the tower ribbed vault has been preserved. The entrance to the tower from the northern side leads to the museum rooms.

References:

• Słupsk Tourism

Address

Dominikańska 5/9, Słupsk, Poland

Details

Founded: 1507
Category: Castles and fortifications in Poland