1. Kraków. Wawel Royal Castle2. Kraków. The Royal Archcathedral Basilica of St Stanislaus and St Wenceslaus3. Kraków. Complex of Renaissance mansions in Kanonicza street4. Kraków. Complex of Renaissance mansions in the historical city centre5. Kraków. Villa Decius6. Zielonki. Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary7. Giebultów. Church of St Giles8. Modlnica. Church of St Adalbert and Our Lady of Sorrows9. Suloszowa. Pieskowa Skala Castle10. Ksiaz Wielki. Mirow Castle in Ksiaz Wielki11. Miechów. Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre12. Bodzentyn. Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr13. Sucha Beskidzka. Castle in Sucha Beskidzka14. Kraków - Mogila. Sanctuary of The Holy Cross of The Cistercian Abbey15. Kraków - Branice. Branicki Villa - Lamus16. Niepolomice. Royal Castle in Niepolomice17. Niepolomice. Church of Ten Thousand Martyrs - Memorial Chapel of Branicki Family18. Tarnów. The Town Hall19. Tarnów. Complex of Renaissance townhouses in the Old Town20. Tarnów. Cathedral Basilica of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary21. Wilczyska. Jezów Manor House22
Szymbark. Castellum: Renaissance fortified manor house in Szymbark
This defensive manor house, a former seat of the Gładysz knightly family of the Gryf clan, is a very precious monument of Renaissance architecture in Poland, and a leading example of the Polish castellum: fortified manor house. Characteristic features of such architecture include a rectangular plan with a simple layout of the rooms, without an internal courtyard, and with characteristic extensions with clearly defensive functions in the four corners, usually with overhanging bay windows.
The building combines the functions of a noble family residence and a fortress, while its architectural form makes reference to sites known from southern and south central Europe. The most often quoted link is that between this fortified manor and 15-century Italian villas and the form of Italian quattro torre castles: fortresses with four defensive towers, popular in Italy in the 14th and 15th centuries.
The house was probably built in two stages (though no exact dates are known): in the first, from the first half of the 16th century to 1585-1590, the body of the building was constructed, while the second stage involved finishing works and the making of the decorative elements, notably an arcaded parapet wall, sgraffito decoration with an ornament composed of fantastic masks and geometric and vegetal motifs, and also stonework around the doors and windows (1590-1600).
As far as its architecture goes, the fortified manor is unique. It was set on the high bank of the Ropa River, where it was built of the local broken stone and brick on a rectangular plan, 20 × 13 m. The defence system is visible in the four rectangular residential towers on the corners, which, supported on stone consoles, protrude beyond the face of the walls at first floor level, and with a line of shooting holes - rectangular and loopholes - running around the building at the level of the attic.
Following the restoration works (completed in 2010), the manor house was returned to its 16th century character. Original elements of its internal decoration survive to this day, notably the stone framing of the door, fragments of fireplaces and the wall paintings in two alcoves.
The building functions as a conference and exhibition venue and, together with adjacent buildings, the court wing and a wooden burgher mansion, it forms a branch of the Museum of Karwacjan and Gładysz Family Manor Houses in Gorlice.
Various architectural models and styles that originated in Western countries, especially in Italy, were accepted in Central Europe. With time, they became part of the local architectural tradition, to which successive generations of developers and constructors made reference. The 'classical' form was gradually blurred and the buildings received lavish decoration, often distant from the model solutions applied in the countries in which the model originated. It was thus in the Renaissance with domed chapels, city mansions, villas, and fortified manor houses.
The building in Szymbark is a good illustration of the process. The Renaissance fortified manor house received a parapet wall whose forms are distant from its Italian originals. It is a work of local constructors, who only had experience of local architecture, and not of the works of masters from Florence, Venice, Padua, and Rome.
