In the summer of 2015 we decided to visit eastern Poland. We began, however, more to the north. The first attraction was visiting Gothic castle in Malbork.
The castle was built in the years 1274-1457 and is one of the largest medieval fortresses in Europe. It was the seat of the State of the Teutonic Knights.
Route from Poznan to Malbork is easy thanks to the existing sections of S5 express road and A1 highway. The only exception is 3 km of DK22 around Tczew, which is paved. A paved road?
On the Malbork’s website we read that in Malbork is large road repair and it is recommended to leave the car on the other side of the river. We did it. The castle can be reached by footbridge. Walking across the footbridge with the children, we learned the name of a new river — Nogat.
Parking the car on the other side of the river, unfortunately, it meant that we had a fairly long walk to the ticket offices, which are located on the other side of the castle.
Tour takes place in organized groups with a guide, the group organized on a regular basis, every 15 minutes. We got to the castle on Monday and the internal exhibitions were closed. Interestingly, we didn’t find this information on the website. Pricing was also different at the ticket office than on the website. A bit chaotic. In the end that didn’t matter, because the parking was more expensive than the ticket price.
The tour started by crossing the drawbridge leading into the ward. Next we went through a wet moat reaching the courtyard of the Middle Castle. Later, we were guided across a dry moat to the High Castle. During the guided tours we got to know the history of the Teutonic Knights and the fate of the castle. We learned how one could become a Knight and what were the purpose of each building and rooms. We also saw the heating system used at the castle.
The castle was severely damaged during the war and reconstruction still continues. Currently, restoration works were carried out on the part of the High Castle. This work, however, did not interfere with the sightseeing. We were able to walk a balcony in the High Castle, we also saw the toilet of the Teutonic Knights. Coming back, we could go through the cellars, which were open so we could see some of the museum exhibits.
Although part of the exhibition was closed, we absolutely loved the Castle. Mainly due to the guide, who spoke interestingly about the castle. At the exit from the castle to the castle grounds, souvenir stands were located. We bought there a fridge magnet with the image of Malbork Castle – to our collection of magnets of the visited places.
After visiting the castle we went to the Baltic Sea, heading in the direction of Krynica Morska.