The Boner family castle in Bydlin

Address:

32-310 Klucze Bydlin

GPS:

50° 23' 18.204" N 19° 39' 6.5232" E

Bydlin Castle was probably built in the fourteenth century as the ancestral seat of a family of knights of the Arrow coat of arms,  and later passed into the hands of the Szczepanowski, Brzezicki and Boner families. The next owner - Mikołaj Firlej rebuilt it at the turn of the sixteenth / seventeenth century as the church of the Holy Cross, and according to local legend it also functioned as an Arian church for a short time. It was burnt by the Swedes during their march to Czestochowa in 1655. Since then the building fell into disrepair. At the moment, remnants may be seen of the so called "Kamieniec", that is a rectangular residential building, as well as the remains of the peripheral wall and gate, and fragments of a rock-cut moat. Visible trenches, dug by the soldiers of the 1914 Polish Legions, remain in the woods  surrounding the castle ruins. The soldiers were stationed on the fortified Hill of the Holy Cross for several days during their fights with the Russians.