Fryštát Castle

Fryštát Castle rises on a steep slope above the Mlýnka stream, not far from the banks of the Silesian river Olše, on the very edge of Karviná's historic centre. With its position on a rocky hill and its stately appearance, it tells a story spanning more than seven centuries of European history.

The castle's beginnings date back to the end of the 13th century. From 1290 the area belonged to the newly created Duchy of Cieszyn, ruled by Duke Mieszko I of the Cieszyn branch of the Piast dynasty. The original settlement lay lower down by the Olše and suffered frequent floods, so a new centre was established a few kilometres away on safer ground. Over time a complex took shape here: a Gothic chapel in the Silesian Gothic style (modelled on an older chapel in Racibórz), a stone-and-timber ducal residence with a hall of state, and farm buildings. The whole site was protected by walls and a moat. Duke Mieszko was an ally of the Bohemian king Wenceslaus II and the father-in-law of his son, Wenceslaus III.

During the 14th century the castle was gradually altered. An important rebuilding took place before 1377 under Duke Przemysław I Noszak, who replaced the timber buildings with stone ones and equipped the castle with a black kitchen, an armoury and defensive terraces. A covered Gothic passage ran across the north side of the residence.

A turning point came in 1412, when Duke Bolesław I married Euphemia of Masovia, niece of the founder of the Jagiellonian dynasty. Euphemia received the castle as her dower fief and began converting it into a residence. She had a new kitchen wing built and added the Gothic Chapel of St Anne to the original castle chapel, creating a church with a Latin-cross plan. In 2011 Gothic paintings, probably from the 15th century, were discovered in the church's north chapel, showing scenes from the lives of St Catherine and St Barbara. When Euphemia was widowed in 1431, she moved here from Cieszyn and raised her children at the castle.

Her son Bolesław II took over in 1447 and ruled until 1452. At that time the castle was large and splendid, and the duke kept a magnificent court here. Among his descendants, Duke Casimir II stood out; from 1460 to 1477 he ruled the Fryštát estate from here and was an ally of the Bohemian king Vladislaus II. After the great fire of 1511 he had the residence rebuilt in the Renaissance style.

From 1327 the duchy, including the castle, was a fief of the Bohemian Crown. The last Piast duke of Fryštát was Frederick Casimir; after his death Fryštát was permanently separated from the Duchy of Cieszyn. Until the mid-20th century the castle formed a single complex; it was later divided into the ducal chateau and the parish church, which today are separate buildings.