GPM 0936 OLSZTYN

The Castle of the Warmian Chapter in Olsztyn (Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship) is a defensive and residential building that dates back to the late Middle Ages. The first defensive structure, built on the site of the present castle, was built around 1330 - it was a simple wooden watchtower. However, already around 1350, the Warmia chapter significantly rebuilt the watchtower. It financed a completely new stone and brick building in the Gothic style. The first part of the castle was built in the years 1348-1353. In the fifteenth century, the south-eastern wing of the castle was erected, and in the sixteenth century, the tower from the sixteenth century was rebuilt, de facto replacing it with a new building. At that time, also the elevated castle walls and supplemented them with a second, lower, belt of fortifications with towers. The castle was also connected with the fortification system of the city of Olsztyn. Until 1772, the castle belonged to the Warmia chapter, and as a result of the First Partition of Poland, it entered the borders of the Prussian state. Renovation of the castle took place at the beginning of the 20th century, and from 1921 a museum was placed there. The most famous inhabitant of the castle was Nicolaus Copernicus, who was its administrator in the years 1516-1521.