Residential tower of the Koło castle in the light of the latest archaeological research

The Koło castle (Wielkopolskie voivodeship) is the best-preserved royal stronghold in the broadly defined historical province of Wielkopolska (Greater Poland). The castle owes this status not so much to the scale of the structures preserved to this day (i.e., ruins of the bergfried; the west curtain walls, still visible today in full length and considerable height; the greater part of the north curtain wall; and a section of the south one), but rather to the dilapidated condition of other castles founded by Polish monarchs. For a number of years (1977–1983), the Koło castle was subjected to archaeological research led by Łucja Pawlicka-Nowak (Regional Museum in Konin). Among other things, the excavations uncovered the residential tower discussed in thispaper. The excavations at the time covered the western half of the building’s interior, both of its outer southern corners, and the north-western area. The research was resumed in 2019, and the authors of this paper faced the challenge of verifying the earlier fieldwork, the extent of which was very wide and not fully documented. The investigations presented here shed completely new light both on the construction history of the Koło castle, and the issues concerning its chronology, which, in the light of current research, would have been as follows: Casimir the Great acquires the village and founds the town of Koło in 1362; the construction of the castle commences and the work on the site of the residential tower quickly progresses following 1365 (or 1367); the monarch dies in autumn 1370, before or shortly after the unfinished castle is consumed by fire. The article concludes with a chapter showing the Koło tower against the background of similar structures in Europe

Ruiny zamku w Kole w świetle najnowszych badań architektonicznych i archeologicznych oraz związana z nimi problematyka konserwatorska

The ruins of the castle in Koło are one of the better-preserved examples of a stronghold from the times of Kazimierz Wielki in the lowlands. The building has been in a state of ruin since the 17th century. A prominent corner tower with a fragment of three curtains has survived to this day. The purpose of this text is to discuss the results of architectural and archaeological research carried out in the years 2019–2020 and the project of the castle’s partial protection. The analysis of the aforementioned research made it possible to state that the construction of the stronghold began with the residential tower in the northern part. Subsequently, a tower was built in the south-west corner. In the next few stages, curtain walls were erected, closing the courtyard. In the southern part there was a gatehouse. A different construction technique enables us to conclude that there were several workshops working on it, which used single-rack and overhang scaffolding. The condition of the ruins was so bad that it was necessary to arrange a project to protect parts of one of the walls, which was completed in 2020.Przedmiotem artykułu są ruiny zamku w Kole. To jeden z najlepiej zachowanych przykładów warowni z czasów Kazimierza Wielkiego na terenach nizinnych w Polsce. Budowla ta już od XVII w. znajdowała się w stanie ruiny. Do dziś zachowała się wydatna wieża narożna z fragmentem trzech kurtyn. Celem autorów niniejszego artykułu było omówienie wyników przeprowadzonych w latach 2019–2020 badań architektonicznych i archeologicznych ruin zamkowych oraz projektu częściowego zabezpieczenia tych pozostałości. Wykonane analizy pozwoliły na konstatację, że budowę warowni rozpoczęto od wieży mieszkalnej w części północnej. W dalszej kolejności powstała wieża w narożniku południowo-zachodnim. W kolejnych kilku etapach wzniesiono mury kurtynowe, zamykając dziedziniec. W części południowej funkcjonował budynek przybramia. Zastosowane różne techniki budowlane prawdopodobnie świadczą o tym, że pracowało przy niej kilka warsztatów, które wykorzystywały rusztowania jednosztandarowe i przewieszone. Stan zachowania ruin był na tyle zły, że konieczne było wykonanie projektu zabezpieczenia fragmentu jednej ze ścian, co też wykonano w 2020 r