Ruins of the castle of Casimir the Great from 1350-1360 at the confluence of the Dunajec and Kamienica, with the reconstructed Blacksmith's Tower, in a town park.
The Royal Castle in Nowy Sącz was built by King Casimir the Great in 1350-1360 on an escarpment within the town's fortifications, at the confluence of the Dunajec and the Kamienica. Today it is a ruin: remnants of the perimeter walls and the reconstructed Blacksmith's Tower have survived, and the site is occupied by a town park.
In the past the castle had two corner towers, a keep, a residential building and a forecastle. The heritage register dates the site to the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries and describes it as a stone castle, entered in the register in 1936. It was the seat of local administration and hosted rulers.
According to Wikipedia, in 1370 the castle was visited by King Louis of Hungary, and in 1384 by the future queen Jadwiga. Władysław Jagiełło came here often. In April 1410, before the dispute with the Teutonic Order was settled, he held talks here with Grand Duke Vytautas.
The castle fell into decline in the 17th century after the Swedish invasion, fires and an economic crisis. In 1768 it was seriously damaged by a fire started by the Bar Confederates. Under the Austrian partition it housed police offices, then barracks and storerooms. In the Second Polish Republic securing works were carried out, and in 1938 a regional museum was opened here. During the occupation the Germans set up an ammunition store in the castle, which was blown up in 1945 by soldiers of the Home Army. The destruction was almost total.
The remains of the walls and the Renaissance Blacksmith's Tower stand in the park, so access to the site is free, and a walk is easy to combine with sightseeing in the town. Right next to it is the synagogue in Nowy Sącz, and not far away the Sącz Land Museum and the Church of St Norbert and St John Cantius.
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