History
The castle was built between 1336 and 1370, presumably by the unidentified father of Peter and Clemens Rożnów, coat of arms Gryf, on the narrowing headland originally surrounded by the Dunajec river bend. Rożnów family had a castle until the beginning of the 15th century, then it was in the hands of Mikołaj Kurowski and his brother Piotr. In 1426 the castle was acquired by the famous knight Zawisza the Black from Garbów, the coat of arms of Sulima, after whose death in 1428 the fortress was taken over by Wydżga family and later by Tarnowscy family. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries it began to fall into ruin and ceased to be used. Eventually, it was abandoned due to the smallness of the living quarters, when Jan Amor Tarnowski began construction of the second, early modern stronghold in Rożnów in the 17th century.
Architecture
The castle was erected on a rectangular plan measuring approximately 20×44 meters, located on the narrowing of the promontory, towering over the Dunajec Valley. The castle was protected from the rest of the terrain by a ditch. Residential buildings may have been located by the western curtain of the wall. Probably the castle was a towerless foundation, for which close analogies can be found in the nearby Czech cultural area.
Current state
The walls of the castle are preserved from the south and east and south-east corner of the building is visible. Only the lower parts of the two sections of the walls at the north wall of the castle’s interior have survive.
The medieval castle in Rożnów is sometimes called “Upper”, unlike the nearby 16th century fortifications called the “Lower Castle”. From time to time in the press there are proposals for “reconstruction” of the castle, and therefore you should be concerned about the future of the monument, which can be destroyed with concrete and glass.
bibliography:
Kołodziejski S., Średniowieczne rezydencje obronne możnowładztwa na terenie województwa krakowskiego, Warszawa 1994.
Lasek P., Obronne siedziby rycerskie i możnowładcze w czasach Kazimierza Wielkiego [w:] Wielkie murowanie. Zamki w Polsce za Kazimierza Wielkiego, red. A.Bocheńska, P. Mrozowski, Warszawa 2019.
Leksykon zamków w Polsce, red. L.Kajzer, Warszawa 2003.
Moskal K., Zamki w dziejach Polski i Słowacji, Nowy Sącz 2004.