"Swidwin" a Swidwin Travel Page by evaanna

Swidwin is a town in West Pomerania which we visited on our way to the ferry to Sweden in Swinoujscie. We had spent the previous night at my husband's uncle's country house in West Pomerania. Although our ferry was leaving late at night we said goodbye to the family in the early afternoon the next day and went sightseeing, visiting such places as Swidwin, Gryfice and Kamien Pomorski.
The first records of Swidwin date back to the 12th century, when it was already a fortified settlement situated along the trade route leading to the Baltic Sea at Kolobrzeg and Bialogard. The town got its charter in 1296 after the margraves of Brandenburg acquired the whole county of Swidwin from the bishops of Kamien Pomorski. The town changed hands a number of times. The property of the Wedel family, it was later handed over to the Teutonic Order and still later to the margraves of Brandenburg again. In 1402 the Polish king Wladyslaw Jagiello tried to purchase the land and make it part of Poland again, but failed. The town suffered severe damage during the Thirty Years War (1618 - 1648) and the subsequent wars, including WWII. It became part of Poland after the Second World War.
Swidwin has a number of interesting buildings, including the castle, fragments of old fortifications, the Stone Gate (Kamienna Brama), a Gothic church and many 18th and 19th century brick and half-timbered houses.
We didn't have time to see them all though, wanting to concentrate on Kamien Pomorski, of which we had heard a lot. But we did find the castle very interesting. See for yourselves.