Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Poland 2008 - Malbork Castle

In May, my father and I also visited Malbork. It is famous for its Gothic castle, one of the biggest and most striking castles in Europe. Both the city and the castle were founded in the 13th century by the Teutonic Knights.

The castle is absolutely marvelous. Both my father and I loved it. We took a guided tour that lasted around 3.5 hours and we also went for a special night show with music and lights. The guided tour was very interesting as guides do their best to give you feeling for how life was during the times when the castle was occupied. The night show, on the other hand, was not that great. My father was bored during it and I only liked it because I played with my camera all the time.

Even though we were visiting the castle on a weekday, still there was a very long line (at least 30 min long) to buy tickets. So if you plan to visit it, definitely try to avoid weekends and, if possible, buy tickets in advance.

























One of the gates:


Typical Gothic style windows:






Typical Gothic rib vaults:




Seals:


Reproduction of Jacek Malczewski's "Self-portrait in the armory" next to the armory of the Polish Knights who defeated the Teutonic Knigths during the Battle of Grunwald:


Main kitchen:




The castle is full of interesting wall sculptures an paintings:






The castle was almost completely ruined during the WWII:


The castle chapel is one of its few still not renovated parts:


Teutonic Knights:


Malbork castle at night:








Four Grand Masters of the Teutonic Knights that ruled at the castle: