13.10 The ruins of Czorsztyn castle

Pencil, watercolour on paper, 335/340 x 483 mm
Inscribed at bottom left: 33; at bottom middle: Ruina Csorsztyn [partly erased]; at bottom right: Karpathen, 22. - Verso: The ruins of Czorsztyn castle. Sketch in pencil and partly watercolour.
Inscribed on the backing at bottom left: Csorsztyni romok
MTA Könyvtára, Kézirattár, Ms 4409/174

Map: II

The ruinous Czorsztyn castle, once a Polish border fortress, still stands out high above the Dunajec. Tradition has it that the Polish king Bolesław the Chaste (Bolesław Wstydliwy, 1226-1279) and his wife Saint Kinga, daughter of King Béla IV of Hungary, took refuge here during the Mongol onslaught of 1241. The castle received a number of other distinguished guests, including King Louis the Great of Hungary, who stopped here on his way to Cracow in 1370, and Saint Jadwiga, Louis' daughter and future queen of Poland, who stayed here in 1384. In 1790 the castle was struck by lightning and burnt to the ashes; since then it has been in ruins. - We see Niedzica castle to the left in the background. - The sketch on the verso depicts the ruins of Czorsztyn castle from a similar perspective. - Bibliography: Kollár, Lazarek, Vysoké Tatry 1958