Grodzisko Owidz (PL)
Grodzisko Owidz is a reconstruction of an 11th century medieval castle located near Starogard Gdański. The castle, located on the hill above the Wierzyca, River was one of the strongest in the area, and its rise was connected with the strengthening of Boleslaw Chrobry's dominion over Pomerania.
It was probably destroyed in 1090 by the order of Władysław Herman, who at that time destroyed a large part of Pomeranian castles, in order to prevent the Pomorzan rebellion. In spite of the damage, the castle continued to function. During the Swedish Deluge, the fort was used by the Swedes as a camp, hence the popular local name - Swedish Hill.
In addition to military functions, the castle also served as a residential property. It was surrounded by wooden-earth ramp with palisade about twice as large as the current reconstruction. There were also defensive towers. The cottages with a thatched roof structure (the current reconstructions correspond to their size). Ten cottages were reconstructed, but there were many more. A square formed the middle of the settlement, a meeting place for the people (rallies, courts, announcement of important news). In addition to the houses and the gate tower, a stretcher (tower of the last defence), one of the observation towers and an animal farm was reconstructed.
The castle was inhabited by warriors, the representatives of the most important craftspeople and the major merchants. The poor craftspeople and farmers lived in the suburbs, and were only protected in case of threats.
Grodzisko Owidz houses an extensive tourist infrastructure - a restaurant, a souvenir shop, a playground, car parks and a kayak landing on the Wierzyca River.
Text source: Wikipedia
Image by MOs810 - Praca własna, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=41971537