Zinar Castle

A pearl of Krakow's fortifications. The Barbican, one of the greatest monuments of medieval military architecture in Europe, was never conquered by storm, and it is legendary that its defenders repelled enemy troops ... with one shot!

This massive gothic building with an extremely original structure was erected in the years 1498-1499 to protect the northern section of Kraków's fortifications, which was the only one devoid of a natural water dam. The Barbican was connected with the Florian Gate, the so-called neck, that is, along a fortified corridor. Inside, the facility was practically empty - all this so that in the event of an emergency, numerous troops could be gathered inside. The story of Marcin Oracewicz, the pasamon (pasamon makers were involved in the production of belts, tassels and braids), who with one shot repulsed the attack of the Russian army in 1768, has gone down in history. Apparently, the tsarist general Panin was killed in a fusion with a zhupan tumor.

In the 16th century, the city's stables were located in the Barbican. Along with the changes in the art of siege, it lost its former significance, and at the beginning of the 19th century it was even threatened with demolition. Fortunately, he avoided the fate that befell most of Krakow's fortifications and only the neck connecting it with the Florian Gate was demolished.

The Krakow Rondel is one of the three Gothic barbican still existing today - such survivors have survived in their original state only in Carcassonne in France and in German Görlitz - and it is undoubtedly the largest and best-preserved of them.