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Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship

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Szczytno Castle and Masurian Museum

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Poland

Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship

Szczytno

Szczytno Castle and Masurian Museum

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Szczytno Castle and Masurian Museum

Name: Szczytno Castle and Masurian Museum
Rating: 2

Recommended by 9 mountain bikers

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Location: Szczytno, Szczytno, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland

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Best Mountain Biking Routes to Szczytno Castle and Masurian Museum

4.0

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1. Nowe Kiejkuty – Domowe Duże Lake loop from Kobyłocha

37.8km

02:29

160m

Intermediate mountain bike ride. Good fitness required. Suitable for all skill levels.

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4.0

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2. Domowe Duże Lake – Nowe Kiejkuty loop from Osiedle Zielona Góra

41.1km

02:23

150m

Intermediate mountain bike ride. Good fitness required. Suitable for all skill levels.

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3. Nowe Kiejkuty – Dźwierzuty gravel trail loop from Szczytno

52.3km

03:19

220m

Intermediate mountain bike ride. Good fitness required. Suitable for all skill levels.

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🕊️ 𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒓

October 30, 2024

The history of the Szczytno castle dates back to the order's fortress of Hauß Ortelßburg, which was built between 1350 and 1360 on the land connection between the Great and the Small Haussee, with a wooden and earth defensive watchtower on the site of the earlier Prussian stronghold. The Teutonic Order used it as a border fortress against the nearby, Polish-ruled Mazovia and as a base for the settlement of the former Prussian house Galinden, which was found as a primeval forest south of the previously conquered and settled areas and was generally referred to as "wilderness". A caretaker of the order, who was subordinate to the Elbing Commandery, had his seat at the castle. The name of the Ortelsburg is traced back to the Grand Commander and Supreme Spittler of the Order, Ortloff von Trier, who, in his capacity as Commander of Elbing, arranged for the settlement of immigrants from Mazovia with a document dated 24 September 1360. Their settlement was initially established on the north side of the Kleiner Haussee, and they lived mainly from beekeeping. Beekeepers at this time were referred to as Beutner, and so the name Beutnerdorf (Polish Bartna Strona) was created for the new settlement.
Less than twenty years later, the Lithuanians led by Prince Kęstutis (Kynstut) burned down the watchtower. However, the Teutonic Order did not want to give up its base and in 1370-1380 immediately built a new more resistant castle of stone and brick on a plan similar to a square, in the middle of which there was a well. It was surrounded by defensive walls and a moat together with the castle. On the south-eastern side, there was an outer bailey separated from the castle by a defensive wall with a gate leading inside.
Before the outbreak of the Thirteen Years' War, the castle inventories listed: a grain silo, cellars, a kitchen, a malt house, a powder magazine, a chapel, an attic serving as a meat warehouse, a cattle farm, an ordinary farm, a bathhouse, a pantry and a woodcarving shop. 26 crossbows and 10250 bolts and 43 hook guns were also kept here.
During the Thirteen Years' War (1454–1466) it was fiercely fought over and was occupied several times by both warring parties. After the secularization of the state of the Order in 1525 and its transformation into the secular Duchy of Prussia, Ortelsburg Castle became the seat of the prince's Amtshauptmann (starost) for the Hauptamt Ortelsburg, which was subordinate to the Oberländischer Kreis. The Hauptamt in turn was responsible for the offices of Willenberg and Passenheim. It also served as a quarters during the hunts of Duke Albrecht and his successors. Since the duchy was under the feudal sovereignty of Poland at that time, Ortelsburg Castle lost its importance as a border fortress and began to decay.
Duke Georg Friedrich I (Brandenburg-Ansbach-Kulmbach) had it rebuilt from 1579 to 1581 by the master builders Blasius Berwart and Hans Wissmar, and expanded by a fortification, serving as a hunting lodge. Many of the craftsmen involved in the construction work settled near the castle and founded the municipality of Ortelsburg in 1581, independently of the already existing village of Beutnerdorf, causing 20 years of sometimes violent fighting. Then it became a magazine and arsenal. The tower and walls along with the towers were demolished in the 17th century. In the years 1766-1792, the north-eastern wing of the castle and the upper storeys of the other wings were demolished and the southern moat was filled. After that, the building fell into disrepair. Today, only the foundation walls of the northern part of the castle can be seen and underwent extensive revitalization with walkways on several levels and lighting, attracting visitors.
Before World War II, the town hall building was built in the place of the southern half of the castle. A high tower called the "Jurand Tower", part of the buildings of the outer bailey and a moat have been preserved.
The Masurian Museum in Szczytno was established in 1945 on the basis of the surviving collection of the Kreisheimatmuseum Ortelsburg founded in 1925.
Originally located in the fourteenth-century Teutonic castle, in 1948 it was moved to the south and east wings of the town hall, adjacent to the ruins of the castle.
The branch of the Museum of Warmia and Mazury in Szczytno possesses collections now counting thousands of museum objects, in the field of archeology, history, art, ethnography, including folk art, cartography, numismatics and nature, as well as a scientific collection with old prints - documenting history, cultural heritage and values natural environment of the Mazur region.
Among the collections can be mentioned the monuments of regional sacred art (XVIII-XIX centuries), handicrafts, artistic handicrafts (XV-XIX centuries). A special position is occupied by historical documents and publications related to the Polish press and the Polish movement in Masuria (XIX-XX centuries), of which Szczytno was an important center.
Ethnographic collections, the oldest of which date back to the end of the 18th century, are painted Masurian furniture, wardrobes with household writing on the inside of the door, decorative and utility fabrics as well as traditional household and farm appliances. These objects are priceless traces of folk culture of Masuria, which at the beginning of the twentieth century was marginalized.
szczytno.muzeum.olsztyn.pl

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Elevation 170 m

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Location: Szczytno, Szczytno, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland

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Szczytno Castle and Masurian Museum

1. Nowe Kiejkuty – Domowe Duże Lake loop from Kobyłocha

2. Domowe Duże Lake – Nowe Kiejkuty loop from Osiedle Zielona Góra

3. Nowe Kiejkuty – Dźwierzuty gravel trail loop from Szczytno

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