Mirow Castle is one of the oldest fortresses in Polish Jura, it belongs to the famous Eagles Nests Trail. Although this medieval fortress is in ruins today, it is definitely worth visiting. Especially if you decide to visit nearby Bobolice Castle, Mirow is just stone’s throw away.
The first wooden watchtower was built over the Mirow Hill probably in the 13th century. But archeological excavations confirm that some of our ancestors settled there already at the end of Bronze Age, ca. 900-700 B.C. The limestone hill, like in the case of all the other Eagles Nests, was the best choice to erect a stronghold to guard the surrounding area…
The Polish King Casimir the Great was probably the one who gave the order to construct a new, stone-made fortress in the middle of the 14th century, together with the dungeons carved in the limestone rock. These dungeons play a significant role in all legends about the fortress. We may say, every old dungeon is a somehow mysterious and scary place… After that, the successor of king Casimir, Luis of Hungary, gave the castle to his loyal supporter, prince Wladyslaw Opolczyk.
Just some years later, the next king of Poland, Wladyslaw Jagiello, took over the fortress back to the crown. Possibly, the reason for that could be the too-close ties between the prince Opolczyk and Teutonic Knights. We probably can not speak about the treason in this case, but the king had definitely his doubts about Opolczyk’s loyalty.
And so the history of the Mirow Castle continued – it changed the owners many, many times throughout the time.
During the 15th and 16th century the noble families of Giebultowski, Myszkowski, Korycinski, and Mecinski rebuilt and enlarged the fortress. They renovated the living spaces, made it more representative, and expanded the tower. Although the castle kept its medieval, gotic character, some elements of renaissance’s charm appeared.
Like all others Eagles Nests in Polish Jura, Mirow Castle was destroyed during the Swedish Deluge in the years 1655-1660. After that, the owners did not abandon it immediately, they tried to rebuild and renovate the castle.
Only in the year 1787, the owners, Mecinscy, decided to move out. From that year the fortress has been decaying. During the 19th century, for example, locals used the stones of the castle’s walls to build the new road through the village…
However, a few years ago, the Lasecki family, owners of nearby Bobolice castle bought neighboring ruins of Mirow fortress. Who knows, maybe they will decide to reconstruct it as they did in Bobolice? Some works are already taking place…
Bobolice and Mirow have been always connected in some way… By their common story… By the history or owners… And by the picturesque path connecting the castles… And moreover, by their legends… I would like to invite you to read some of them here.
For all fans of climbing, the area of Mirow castle offers a lot of possibilities to practice this full of adrenaline sport. Between Mirow and Bobolice you can find lots of secured climbing paths mostly on the north side of the rocks. Which of course is an asset on the hot summer days. The difficulty of those paths varies from grade VI.1 to VI.3+.