My friend. You often waste your time during your hours off work. Instead of using it for wonderful adventures and discovering the lands where you happen to live, you glue your tired eyes to a TV program that is not always the best. If your children asked you about curiosities from our region, you probably would not be able to tell them much.
And there are more curiosities here than you suspect. Interesting people live here who not only collected materials concerning the history of this part of our country, but are themselves creators of new history. Bolesławiec and its surroundings abound in so many incredible stories and legends that more than one writer could create a magnificent work based on them. It was here, beside the stronghold on the Bóbr, already in the early Piast era, that many passions erupted around the ore AU, that is, gold—cursed and blessed at the same time. It was here that gold turned into clay, and clay became gold: the material with which many potters made our magnificent stronghold famous throughout the world.
Out of contrariness, however, I will devote my story to the area around Bolesławiec. It will be a story about GRODZIEC CASTLE. It lies about 24 km from Bolesławiec, depending on the route you choose (by PKS bus through Olszanica or Nowa Wieś Grodziska, or approximately four hours along the blue tourist trail). The blue tourist trail will provide you with unforgettable impressions. Relict examples of flora occur along the way (sedges, Turk’s cap lily, hepatica, anemone, bush lily of the valley, and so on). Finally, after a magnificent effort, a mountain from a fairy tale rises before you. A gently undulating plain reigns all around—and suddenly a powerful basalt cone rises, 128 m in relative height (434 m above sea level). On its summit, already in the early Middle Ages, a defensive stronghold was built, forming the tribal border of the Bobrzanie (perhaps as early as the 8th century).
The castle was destroyed and rebuilt many times. It underwent thorough expansion in the 16th century, during the time of Fryderyk IV. History was not kind to this magnificent stronghold. The final years in particular were a stepmother to the castle.
While resting before climbing to the mountain’s summit, do not forget to bow your head before the church beside the mountain. It was an early foundation of the wife of Henryk I the Bearded and St. Jadwiga of Trzebnica (daughter of Duke Bertold). Although little has survived from this old 13th-century building, the place is nevertheless sacred. And finally we reached the mountain’s summit, where a powerful defensive structure reigns. What we see, however, is a sad remnant of the former stronghold, despite its size. Yet to this day one can encounter many sensational curiosities here. I will tell you about one of them immediately.
Now, during the finest period of this stronghold, when Duke Fryderyk IV, the Legnica Piast (brother of the famous hell-raiser Henryk XI, a spendthrift), resided there, a major expansion of the castle was undertaken. According to the founders’ plans, it was to become the Piasts’ second residence after Legnica. Many of the finest specialists were brought in, especially stonemasons and sculptors. Wendelin Roskopf, an architect from Zgorzelec and an extraordinary figure who created unique architectural structures, undertook the castle’s expansion. Knowing his craft, he was able to select first-rate professionals. Among the most distinguished masters was an inconspicuous man known as Michelik the Lame. He signed his works M/T. An unremarkable, even frail body—but the soul and talent of a Cyclops. Ah, what a pity that human perfection does not go hand in hand. Or perhaps that would be too much happiness? Michelik showed what he could do just a few days after arriving at the castle. Before the duties had been fully assigned, he had already become one of the more influential men. Yet man does not live by fame and rations alone. Michelik’s heart was stirred at the sight of one of the castle’s ladies-in-waiting. The girl was extraordinarily beautiful, and in Michelik’s eyes her figure bordered on an unattainable miracle. The sculptor forgot about the world and, instead of conjuring from stone works worthy of his great talent, became a mediocre poet, awkwardly praising the charms of his beloved. His feelings were not reciprocated, however. She repaid his great love with insulting words and contempt. The artist’s profound feelings went unappreciated. The beautiful yet vain lady-in-waiting, together with her sister—the castle cook—made Michelik’s life miserable. He therefore decided to leave the castle, the site of his tragedy. Before doing so, however, he resolved to take a terrible revenge—a revenge that would last for centuries.
At Grodziec Castle there are unique features known as “Turkish eyes.” They are nothing more and nothing less than former toilets. These facilities are located above the castle moat, in bay windows that in earlier times served for defense and simultaneously as “privies.” Thus, a guard was not forced to leave his post “when necessary.” Our artist Michelik, because of the humiliations he suffered from the object of his affections, immortalized her face and her sister’s on the corbels of one of the “Turkish eyes.” They have survived in perfect condition to this day as a memento. Michelik’s revenge consists in the fact that waste must pass beside their faces for all eternity. Legend has it that after Michelik left for Prague, the girls, unable to endure their disgrace, took refuge in a hermitage on Mnisza Góra, where they lived out their sad lives.