Donimirski Boutique Hotels

History

• THE HISTORY OF THE CASTLE

Around the year 1352, a knight known as Jan Syrokomla set out to build a tower, in which he intended to live, on a solid limestone rock. The tower is now the oldest part of the Korzkiew Castle. The defensive purpose of the castle, as it is today, is not necessarily obvious, but if we imagine a marsh down at the foot of the hill, where now we see the park, the location makes perfect sense. The defensive walls encircling the castle boast two towers, facing the East and the West, as well as a 17th century gatehouse with a beautiful portal and a semicircular archivolt. Enclosed within the walls is a triangular courtyard, which is slightly sloped southwards. The multi-storied Gothic wing was extended as early as the 16th century by a new Renaissance wing.
 

The importance of the family residence is evidenced by the fact that the descendants of the castle’s founder assumed the surname Korzekwicki. Jan’s grandson, known as Zaklika, was a distinguished official: he held the title of the starost (governor) of the crown lands of Stary Sącz and later of Lublin, as well as a judicial position in the Kraków court. He led the 47th banner (cavalry unit) in the 1410 Battle of Grunwald. There was yet another Korzekwicki involved in that epic battle: Jakub from Korzkiew, the bishop of Płock who took part in the Council of Constance and who was also the first Polish Auditor of the Roman Rota.

Over the course of the centuries the castle changed owners many times. In 1486 it was sold to Szczepan Świętopełk whose son Mikołaj sold it in turn to Piotr Krupek, a Krakovian town council official, in 1517. Krupek’s son sold the castle to Mikołaj Jaskier. The next family to own the castle were the Zborowskis until 1572 when it was bought by the Ługowski family where it was passed on from generation to generation until 1652. The magnate clan of the Jordans owned the castle for almost a century. It was Michał Jordan who welcomed King Augustus III during a hunt. In the years 1755-1775 the castle grounds belonged to the treasurer Teodor Wessel, then for a number of decades they were property of the Wodzicki family. In 1847 they were purchased by Józef Sedlmajer and they remained in his possession until 1879. Until 1945 the Korzkiew grounds were owned by the Giustiniani family and Karol Guziński, followed by Radecki from whose hands the castle was taken in 1952 to become property of the state under the People’s Republic of Poland.

In 1997, the ruins were purchased by Jerzy Donimirski, whose aim was to restore the castle to its former glory. Today it houses a small boutique hotel, conference rooms and spacious ball rooms, fit for a knight. Many visitors from abroad have found the place charming, and we are always happy when people choose the local church for their wedding vows and the castle itself as their wedding venue.

• THE LEGENDS FROM KORZKIEW  

Yet another legend... takes us to the local church, which is believed to have been linked to the castle as late as in the 15th century by a suspended bridge spanning over the valley between the two hillocks. The bridge was supposed to let the Korzkiew nobility to go to the church and back above the peasants’ houses. They say that one of the owners once lost his daughter in an unfortunate accident when she fell off that bridge. The grieving mother cried a river which survives to this day in the form of the rivulet Korzkiewka which flows between the castle and the church.