Małopolskie
Interesting facts about the history of the castle and town
XIII century
In the first half of the 13th century a watchtower was erected on the castle hill in Dobczyce, serving as a customs house on the route to Hungary.
1266
The oldest known reference to the village of Dobczyce dates back to 1266.
1310
Around 1310 Dobczyce was granted town rights. Around 1310 Dobczyce was granted town rights.
1340
In 1340, Casimir the Great released the townsmen of Dobczyce paying customs fees.
XIV century
In the 14th century, on the initiative of Kazimierz Wielki, the watchtower in Dobczyce was extended and became a strong fortress, defended by walls 5 to 9 meters thick. Inside the Dobczyce castle there were two courtyards - the lower and the upper one. A corner tower rose above a cellar carved in the rock.
XIV / XV century
Dobczyce town walls were built at the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries. They had the shape of an irregular pentagon and surrounded the entire hill of the Old Town. They were about 700 m long, the average height was 9 m and the average width was 2 m. Local sandstone was used for their construction.
1362
In a document issued in 1362 by Casimir the Great at the castle in Dobczyce, the king confirmed the location of the town under Magdeburg Law; here also appeared the first mention of the town walls and suburb.
1460-1492
During the reign of King Kazimierz IV Jagiellończyk an academy for royal sons was located in the castle in Dobczyce. One of the teachers Jan Długosz.
1472
1570
In 1570, Dobczyce received a privilege King Sigismund II Augustus, granting the town a new fair on St Martin's Day. In the same year, the king allocated the income customs duties collected at the two annual fairs on St John the Baptist and St Martin, as well as at the weekly Monday markets, to the repair and maintenance of the town walls. This privilege was issued for 10 years.
1585
In 1585 Stefan Batory handed Dobczyce castle over to Sebastian Lubomirski. The new owner began rebuilding the fortress in a Renaissance style.
1610
In 1610 Stanisław Lubomirski, son of Sebastian, became the starost of Dobczyce.
1611
In 1611 Barbara,Sebastian Lubomirski's daughter, married Jan Zebrzydowski at Dobczyce castle.
1649
In 1649 the Dobczyce castle passed into the hands of the Jordan family for almost 100 years.
1655-1660
During the Swedish Deluge Dobczyce did not suffer as much damage as other towns in Lesser Poland occupied by the Swedes. It was only the invasion of Cossacks allied with the Swedes and Jerzy Rakoczy, in 1657 that left the town plundered and burnt down.In the same year Jan Kazimierz exempted Dobczyce townsmen taxes for 4 years.
1702
In 1702 the castle in Dobczyce was severely damaged during the Swedish army operations during the Northern War.Since then the material situation of the inhabitants became more and more difficult.
1782
In 1782 the castle in Dobczyce was abandoned.
1818
In 1818 Jan Turnau bought a part of property in Dobczyce. He became the owner of the castle, the grange under the castle and the western part of Staromiejska Mountain. Although he did not buy all of it, the new owner claimed rights to the entire town, even though it was still managed by the municipality. Over the years both the town and the castle were completely abandoned.
1828-1834
In the years 1828-1834 the building materials the demolished walls of the castle in Dobczyce were used to erect a church of St. John the Baptist, standing in the place of a Renaissance church. Inside the church there are five altars. Three of them (the main and two side ones) were made in 1851 by Kajetan Domasiewicz. It worth noting the following : Sebastian Lubomirski's children's epitaph the 16th century, the Jagiellonian coat of arms on the tower, the Stations of the Passion of Christ 1849 in the Cracow workshop of Aleksander Stachowicz, painted on lead-zinc sheet metal, and the organ the 18th century.
XIX century
Stones the demolished castle in Dobczyce were used as building material for nearby houses. Stones the town walls found a similar use.The destruction was finalised by the exploitation of stone Góra Zamkowa in the second half of the XIXth century. It was used, among other things, for the construction of Vistula embankments in Krakow.
26 April 1900
On 26 April 1900 the authorities of Dobczyce turned to the members of the Western Galicia Conservators' Group with a request for help to save the town walls.
1900
In 1900 the first inventory of the preserved parts of the town walls took place. It was made by Maurice Sieber, commissioned by the Conservators of Western Galicia.
March 1901
In March 1900, the Conservation Committee of Western Galicia granted a subsidy of 1,200 crowns for the restoration of Dobczyce town walls.
1959
In 1959 the Club of Dobczyce Enthusiasts was established, which began its efforts to commence excavation works on the Old Town Hill.
1960
In 1960 the removal of rubbles on the site of the Dobczyce Castle and further archaeological research began.
Summer 1970
In the summer of 1970, as a result of heavy rains in the vicinity of Dobczyce, the earth that had accumulated behind the walls began to slide and push against them. The walls cracked and stones started to fall them. This situation accelerated the decision to take action to save the historic fortification. The Krakow Monuments Conservation Workshop prepared an expert opinion and a wall protection project, according to which the construction of the endangered curtain wall was strengthened. Both sides of the wall were stabilised with reinforced concrete cubic elements sunk 1 metre into the ground. In addition, the wall was fastened with metal anchor plates.
2003
In 2003 a meeting of the town's authorities and social activists was held at the headquarters of the Polish Tourist Society (Branch in Dobczyce). Issues of rescuing the monument were discussed, as the there was still a risk of collapsing for the curtain wall. This was due to atmospheric conditions, which were conducive to the corrosion of the metal grate and weakening of the wall structure.
2006
In 2006 the municipality of Dobczyce received funding the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage to preserve and conserve the relics of the medieval town walls.
2010
2010 was the year of the 700th anniversary of Dobczyce. It was then that conservation work began on the town walls.
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