Zamek Książęcy Gościszów - ruiny

Gościszów, Poland, Poland

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Zamek Książęcy Gościszów, situated on an artificial island amid a moat in the village of Gościszów near Bolesławiec in Lower Silesia, Poland, originated in the late 13th century, likely initiated by Duke Henryk III Głogowski around 1294 on the site of a Slavic stronghold, featuring an initial circular defensive wall up to 2 meters thick with a five-story residential tower in the northwest corner and an eastern pointed-arch gate. Underwent late 14th-century Gothic expansion by the von Warnsdorf family—who owned it from 1381—and a major late Renaissance transformation in 1603 by Kaspar von Warnsdorf and Helena von Zedlitz, adding new residential wings, ornate portals, and shifting the entrance to the west while retaining medieval elements. Further modified in the 18th-20th centuries by families like Bibran and Schönberg, it burned in 1945 during World War II and remains unrestored ruins today, accompanied by a nearby Romanesque church and the preserved "House of Bachelors" utility building.