History
The castle was built in the early 14th century as a defensive residence of the Syrkoml family. Its collapse should be connected to a construction catastrophe as a result of which the western and northern parts of the peripheral wall have fallen. It took place before 1352, because then Jan of Syrokomla, the Kraków subiudex, bought the Korzkiew Mountain with the intention of building a new family residence there.
During archaeological research many metal artefacts were discovered in the castle, including a sword’s head, two spurs, fragments of stirrups, a bit, a gold ring, numerous bolts, a crossbow stringing device, fragments of knives and puginals, and numerous pieces of ceramic pots.
Architecture
The castle was erected from the local limestone at the top of a rocky hill, at the edge of a valley which a stream flows into the river Rudawa. From the south, the hill ends with a nearly vertical wall, but the remaining slopes are also very steep.
Main element of the castle was a circumferential wall about 1,2 meters thick, running along the edges of the hill and closing the area approximately 45 x 10 meters. The entrance was located in the south part of the eastern wall. The main residential building was a 3,3×3,9 meter tower in the north-eastern corner of the castle. It probably had two or three storeys. In the central part of the castle was a narrow range, adjacent to the east peripheral wall. Communication between the lower southern part of the castle and the higher northern part allowed the stone stairs. At the foot of the rock there was an earth rampart, surrounded the horseshoe, small outer bailey.
Current state
The castle has not survived to modern times, only modest stone relics are visible on the magnificent rock known as Zamczysko or Castle Rock. It is located on the bend of the Kluczwoda stream, between Wielka Wieś and the Biały kościół villages. Admission to the castle area is free.
bibliography:
Kołodziejski S., Średniowieczne budowle obronne na terenie Jury Ojcowskiej w świetle wyników nowszych badań, Kraków 2006.
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.