The Siliesian Piast Castle in Brzeg

Brzeg is a large city upon the Odra river, located between Wrocław and Opole. Its history was similar to the fates of the entire Lower Silesia.
Brzeg was an important trading and crafting centre at the main trail that connected Wrocław with Kraków. In the second half of the 18th century Prussia transformed the city into a strong fortress. At the time, there were mighty bastion fortifications, which can be perfectly seen in the surroundings of the green areas.

The most precious fragment of the castle is the mannerist building of the three-story entrance gate with a richly ornamented facade. It survived in an unchanged form since the time it was built – between 1550 and 1553. The building was established during the renaissance rebuilding of the castle, which was started in 1547 by prince Fryderyk II, and finished in 1560 by his heir, prince Jerzy II and his wife Barbara. The richly ornamented wall of the facade of the first and second floor is finished by an original balustrade with a cartouche, at which you can see the crest of king Zygmunt August with a Jagiellonian Eagle.

Today, the castle is the headquarters of the Silesian Piast Museum in the town of Brzeg, which presents the four main exhibits permanently associated with the Lower Silesia and the permanent exhibit of kerosene lamps.