The Royal Castle in Sanok

The first mention of the stronghold in Sanok comes from 1150 and was written in the Ruthenian Hippie Codex. The Russian chronicler mentions the expedition of King Geza II to Ruthenia, during which he took the castles of Sanok and Przemyśl.

The present castle is situated on a hill 317 m above sea level above a steep slope on the eastern side, at the foot of which the San River, now the Płowiecki Stream, flowed.

Archaeological works confirmed the existence of an early medieval fortified stronghold on the northern side of the castle hill.

Originally a gothic castle, erected on the site of a former Ruthenian stronghold, rebuilt in the years 1523-48 in the renaissance style. Only the central part of the old building has survived to this day. The castle hill was separated from the old town by a deep moat. Currently, the castle walls houses the Historical Museum, founded in 1934. It has the most valuable collection of icons in the country and the largest collection of works by the outstanding Polish artist Zdzisław Beksiński. The museum also has valuable collections: sacred art of the Roman Catholic Church, Pokuttya ceramics, modern art, military, Sarmatian portrait art, archaeological collections and others. There are two German shelters under the castle courtyard, built in 1940-41 as part of the so-called "The Galicia Border Position". They guarded the functioning in the years

1939-1941 the border between the General Government and the Soviet Union.

Works aimed at the reconstruction of the southern wing of the castle and the revitalization of the courtyard have been completed. In the basement of the old and new part of the museum there are exhibitions of contemporary art, a historical exhibition and a conference room.

The ground floor of the new wing was connected by a passage with a German bunker from 1940-41, which was part of the border fortifications at that time. It is an additional tourist attraction.

The information comes from the website www.sanok.pl