History
Most researchers believe that the castle in Ryczów was founded by king Casimir the Great as part of the border guards system. Because of the lack of written sources, however, this is only a poorly documented hypothesis. The castle was probably erected in the 14th century and was only used for the fifteenth century.
Architecture
Ryczów was probably a tower-type house on a quadrangle plan similar to a trapezoid with dimensions of 16x11x12x10 meters with walls reinforced with buttresses. It was located at the highest point of the rock, elongated on the east-west line, in its most inaccessible western part. The entrance led from the east through a wooden bridge or stairs, based on a rock.
A small ward measuring 15×25 meters adjacent to the foot of the rock from the north, surrounded by a ditch and an earth rampart along with the upper part of the castle. The whole formed an oval measuring 85×60 meters. The ditch was about 10 meters wide and 5 meters deep, with a gap in its north-eastern part, which is a remnant of the former entrance gate. A wooden bridge led to it, set on stone pillars, and a tower next to it flanked the gate, set on worked rock, but of timber construction.
Current state
To this day, only small fragments of walls on high rocks and the earth ramparts with height of about 1.5 meters, have been preserved. Due to its location, the stone remains of the castle are difficult to access.
bibliography:
Leksykon zamków w Polsce, red. L.Kajzer, Warszawa 2003.
Sypek R., Zamki i obiekty warowne Jury Krakowsko-Częstochowskiej, Warszawa 2003.