History
Dobre Miasto was established in the place of the Prussian hillfort, located among swamps and marshes of the Łyna river. For the defense and the mill purposes, the canal was dug and an artificial island was created. Around the mid-fourteenth century, the town’s defense was increased by building brick walls. They did not save town from war damages in the years 1414, 1520, 1627, and in 1703, when they were archaic and in poor technical condition.
Architecture
The perimeter of the defensive walls was in the form of an elongated polygon with a shape similar to the rectangle. It was fitted into a small bend of the Łyna River, which protected the town from the south and east. From the north and west, however, an additional protection was the smaller Little Łyna River, strongly meandering on the southern side, where it eventually flowed into Łyna.
The fortification ring was reinforced with four-sided half-towers (open from the town side), more densely located from the more threatened northern side. The eastern corners of the fortifications were reinforced with cylindrical, massive towers. Of these, the Stork Tower was built of red bricks and glacial granite on a circular plan, with five storeys and a prison dungeon. It was covered with a conical roof. The entrance to its interior led through two portals with segmental, stepped arches, at the height of the crown of the defensive wall, and an ogival portal from ground level.
Three gates led to the town, located from the sides of Głotowo, Orneta and Jeziorany (Głotowska Gate, Ornecka Gate and Meadow Gate). The south – western part of the town was dominated by collegiate buildings, combined with town fortifications.
Current state
An element of defensive walls that has survived to the present day in the best condition is the so-called Stork Tower. Inside it the museum of the history of the Dobre Miasto is located. Apart from Strork Tower, traces of old fortifications can still be seen at Malczewskiego street, where the ruins of the second tower remained.
bibliography:
Czubiel L., Domagała T., Zabytkowe ośrodki miejskie Warmii i Mazur, Olsztyn 1969.