"Malbork Castle" Top 5 Page for this destination Poland Things to Do Tip by Paul2001

Malbork Castle is without question one of the great castles in all of Europe. The castle is the most famous structure to be built by the Teutonic knights. The castle was begun by this fighting order of monastic knights in 1330 when they moved there capital here from nearby Chelmo. The castle survived when the Teutonics declined and were forced to give up the castle. For over 300 years it was used by a residence for the Polish monarchy. Then after Poland was carved up by the great powers of Europe, the castle was used as a barracks by the Prussian army. During the Second World War, the Germans used the castle as a POW camp. Surprisingly the castle survived it's capture by Soviet Red Army with little damage. What was destroyed has since been restored.
The castle is basically divided into two sections called the Middle and High Castle. Both are surrounded by a moat. Both castles are each built up around courtyard. Surrounding each courtyard are a serious of chambers which were used has dining halls, barrack, armories and chapels. Today they are used to exhibit collections of medieval weaponry, popcelain and amber. There is also an interesting recreation of a medieval kitchen. The visiting the whole place is quite time consuming and took me almost the whole day.
The castle is open from 9am to 4pm during the summer and from 9am to 3pm for the rest of the year. It is closed on Mondays. It costs 13zl to enter.
There are hotels in Malbork but like most people, I visited on a daytrip from Gdansk.

Address: ul. Staroscinska
Directions: North of the town of Malbork. About 1km from the train station.
Phone: 055-272-33-64

• Written Apr 26, 2004
• Report Abuse
• Send to a Friend