English: Ogrodzieniec Castle, 2 km east of the 4,600 Ogrodzieniec town, stands among fanciful limestone crags atop the greatest (504 m) elevation of the Krakow Upland, granting splendid panorama. Ogrodzieniec is considered as the most beautiful and the biggest castle on the Eagle's Nest Route.
The first fortifications in this place were founded in the 12th century but in 1241 they were destroyed by Tartar invasion. The next owners built a new castle from stone. The construction exploited the natural defensive features of the area: on three sides it was shield by rocks joined to a stone wall and earthworks. The period of the splendour occured in the first half of the 16th century when the castle belonged to the Boner family – the bankers from Krakow and the advisors of king Sigismund the Old. Seweryn Boner employed an Italian architect who turned the Gothic castle into a Renaissance residence.
The fortress consisted with a big upper castle with three towers and a vast outer bailey. The complex was surrounded by a wall whose shape was adapted to the limestone rock. The castle’s defensive system – bastions of the upper castle and the outer earthworks, made use of firearms possible. In 1655 the castle was badly damaged by Swedish invasion. After another Swedish invasion at the beginning of the 18 century the castle fell into decline.
Since the last of the owners family abandoned it in 1810, the castle was left and become a picturesque ruin but great deal of its fortifications, towers, and other structures still can be seen. From the beginning of the 19th century the castle walls were pulled down by the local people to get some stone for building new objects. In the years 1959-1974 the castle was secured as permanent ruin and opened to the public.
There are numerous legends connected with the castle - among others there is one about a buried treasure guarded by devil in a shape of a dog.