We use cookies on this website to monitor statistics, control quality and functionality, and carry out marketing activities.
By disabling cookies you limit or exclude key website features such as video playback, form submission or the interactive mock-up.
You can change your browser cookie settings at any time.
Wieś Proszówka
The ruins of Gryf Castle crown a basalt hill above the village of Proszówka, a few kilometres from Gryfów Śląski. The stronghold was built in the 13th century by Duke Konrad of Głogów on the site of an earlier Bobrzanie settlement. It is one of the larger defensive complexes in the region, clearly visible from the valley and the nearby roads.
Until the end of the 14th century the castle belonged to the dukes of Świdnica, later to the Bohemian king Wenceslaus IV. In the 16th and 17th centuries it was enlarged and reinforced: the upper castle was topped with attics, and the lower part and the gateway were extended. The Swedes besieged it twice; in 1639 the defence held, in 1645 the fortress fell. In 1745 Prussian troops took it, and in 1799 part of the walls was dismantled to build a grange below the hill.
The site is privately owned and not open to free sightseeing; the ruins are viewed from outside, from the paths circling the hill. The approach is short but steep and stony.
