Legnica Castle

Legnica Castle is a medieval castle located in Legnica, in southwestern Poland. It was originally built by duke Bolesław I the Tall in the second half of the 12th century and expanded by his successor, Henry the Bearded, in the early 13th century. One of the oldest stone castles in the country, it was an important political and residential center of the Silesian Piast dynasty and became the principal residence of the Dukes of Legnica. The initial structure possessed strong defensive walls, towers, and other fortifications erected atop an older gord, or hamlet. Two of its most prominent surviving features are two large towers. After the extinction of the Legnica branch of the Silesian Piasts in the 17th century, the castle lost much of its political importance. It was subsequently used for administrative and military purposes. The castle complex was repeatedly damaged by fires and subsequently reconstructed and modified; it contains elements dating from later periods, reflecting centuries of architectural changes, including traces of Romanesque, Brick Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Gothic Revival architecture.