See other Polish Castles | Learn about Polish History | Read about Poznań
The Kórnik castle dates back to the Middle Ages, when the Górka family – a well-known family of magnates in the region of Great Poland – owned the town of Kórnik. The brick residence of Mikołaj Górka (died 1439), erected on timber piles, has been completed around 1430. It consisted of two parallel wings, a tower in the north-east corner, a gateway from the south and a timber drawbridge leading to it. The last of the Górka clan, Stanisław, expanded the castle by building another wing from the north. In such a modernised residence he has received Henry III of France on his way to being crowned in Cracow in 1574.
The property in Kórnik was later in the possession of the Czarnkowski family and since 1610 – the Grudziński family. In 1623 king Sigismund III Vasa with his wife and prince Vladislaus were staying in the castle.
In 1676 the estate was sold to Zygmunt Działyński. Kórnik remained in the hands of his family until 1880. In this period it has been reconstructed twice.
Within three quarters of the 17th century Teofila Szołdrska-Potulicka of the Działyński family has modified the castle into a baroque residence. From the north she has had built two projections with dome-shaped roofs and a pinnacle between them, a new brick bridge and a representative courtyard with three annexes. From the south she created a French garden.
The last reconstruction of the castle took place in the first half of the 19th century. It has been initiated by the then owner of the castle - Tytus Działyński, a renowned patriot, participant of the November uprising of 1830, publisher of historical sources concerning Polish history.
He has had the reconstruction project of the castle designed by Italian architects working in Poland: Antonio Corazzi (1792-1877) and Henrico Marconi (1792-1863), together with the German architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel (1781-1841). The construction works were conducted in the years 1843-61 basing on the Schinkel project, introducing, as requested by the owner, a vast amount of significant changes, which have given the castle its character of a picturesque fortified construction.
In the modernised castle Tytus Działyński created a family residence. In the castle he also placed his great library, full of literature, maps and manuscripts (in Polish or connected with Poland), as well as a collection of Polish national relics. During the reconstruction the services of local craftsmen (mainly from Kórnik, but also from Poznan and surrounding villages) was used.
fot.: www.pl.wikipedia.org
One of the way to get to Poznań is to travel by bus.
You can purchase on-line bus tickets for a travel to and from Poznań with us.
See other Polish Castles | Learn about Polish History | Read about Poznań