Located in the Polish town of Malbork, the 13th-century Castle of the Teutonic Order, also referred to as Malbork Castle, is a complex of castles. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the largest castle in the world in terms of land area. It was first built as an Ordensburg stronghold and given the name Marienburg by the Teutonic Order, a German Catholic monastic order of crusaders. Bohemian mercenaries sold the fortress to King Casimir IV of Poland in 1457 during the Thirteen Years War, refusing to pay indemnities. After a few years of Swedish rule, it continued to serve as one of several Polish royal residences and the headquarters of Polish offices and institutions until the First Partition of Poland in 1772. After that, the castle was ruled by the Germans for more than 170 years, ending in 1945, though mostly neglected as military technology advancements reduced the castle to a historical landmark. Although there is disagreement on the exact time frame for building, most historians agree that it took place between the 132 years between 1274 and 1406. The castle was the largest brick castle in the world when it was completed in 1406, and it is a prime example of a medieval fortification. In December 1997, the Malbork Castle Museum and the Castle of the Teutonic Order were inducted as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO [Information and Image Credit : Malbork_Castle, Wikipedia] [Wikipedia-Link : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malbork_Castle ] [Image : View of Malbork Castle from the Nogat; Wikipedia-Image Author : Gregy] [Image Availed Under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Poland License; (Please Relate to Individual Image URLs for More Usage Property and Sharing, Remixing or Attributing the Work)] [License-Link : https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/pl/deed.en ] [Wikipedia-Image-Source-Link : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Zesp%C3%B3%C5%82_Zamku_Krzy%C5%BCackiego_MALBORK_01.jpg ] #Castles#History
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Monuments and Architecture
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