Published in: Helsingin Sanomat, 16th of October, 2004

- ROBBED TREASURES

- THE MEMORY OF SWEDISH ROBBING EVERYTHING, IS STILL REMEMBERED IN THE MAGNIFICENT CASTLES OF POLAND

- The highlands of Jura. On the walls of the Ogrodzienieci Castle you have to be able to control your fear of heights. Your feets cannot slip, if you want to climb to the towers of a Polish Castle ruins. Climbing to the upper floors, is only on one's own account, says the instruction sign.

- From the windows, you can look at the magnificent looking landscape, with it's hills and strange looking chalk cliff formations and the fields which stretches across the plains. The ugly villages, made from concrete and with the same mold peeks from wide landscape, forming a small groups, here and there. I wonder how did the castle lord felt, when he was looking to different directions from the tower and noticed that the army of Sweden-Finland, had appeared to the horizon. Perhaps the messenger had already reached the castle and told about how the northern men were destroying and robbing, which didn't leave even the most greatest buildings, or the the most modest cottages or villagers untouched.

- The Swedish occupation was a national disaster for Poland. They destroyed most of our national treasures, says the director of the most famous Polish castle, which is the Royal Wawel, located in Krakow. It's sixty kilometers to Krakow, from the guard castle in Ogrodzienieci. Here in the highlands of Jura, the castles which were called the "Eagles Nests" were captured by the enemy, one by one. It was the 1650's, when Poland was suffering from the so-called "Swedish flood", potop szwedzki, a five year period of destruction. Even when the Finnish Hakkapeliitta, were among the vandals, the Polish only remembers the Swedish who destroyed their country. The Swedish army robbed everything that was in their path. When the soldiers robbed the church, they even took the church bells, woven fabrics, golden dishes and even roofs, says the director of the Pieskowa Skala castle, which is part of the Wawel museums.  We were a really rich country in the 15th century. The arrival of the Swedish army, was the end for this golden age. Only a small pieces from our past glory is preserved in the churches and museums, one of the reasons being also the later wars. You can admire our treasures in Sweden, says the director.

- The castle of the Prince of Wisnicz is located about forty kilometer east from Krakow and is a good example of the losses. The castle was owned by the great Prince Stanislaw Lubomirsk. The Prince was collecting paintings from Rafael, Tizian and Dürer. He's library was a very famous in Europe. Lubomirsk owned eighteen cities and over three hundred villages. The Prince wasn't forced to face the destruction, as he died before the Swedish attacked. The Castle of Wisnicz surrendered without a fight, even when it had a good stock of supplies and 600 men defending the castle. They surrendered because the King Karl X Gustav promised to save the castle. The Swedish spent four months in the castle and in that time, devastated the castle, despite their promises. According to a traditional knowledge, 150 wagons carrying treasures from the castle, left with the Swedish army. The inventory books from that time are lost, so we cannot be sure, what the Swedish took with them, says the director of the Castle of Wisnicz. 

- Even when the Knight Castle is empty, it's still a very impressive experience. The empty rooms echoes strangely and in the Knight hall, you are blinded by the sun light coming through the double window rows. According the the historians, the castle in Wisnicz with it's five towers, is one the most beautiful in the country. The fate of the Castle of Ogrodzienieci in the Jura highlands was a much more sadder than the fate of the Castle of Wisnicz. The Swedish left behind them, a damaged castle. After they had left, the Polish started to repair the castle, but the men from north arrived again and destroyed the place for good, in the hostilities of 1702.  Now the Castle of Ogrodzienieci is one of the most well known ruins in Poland. The path of Eagles Nests, going between the cities of Krakow and Czestochow, is a very popular hiking place. You can arrive to the ruins by hiking, using a bicycle or a riding with a horse. Families are driving with their cars, to explore the ruins. 

- The chalk cliffs in the highlands and the bat caves are attracting a rock climbers. The sand desert of Bledowska, which expands some 20 square kilometers and most likely is the biggest in Europe, attracts the motor-cross hobbyist. The German general, Erwin Rommel trained his troops here to simulate the conditions in North-Africa. The bunkers of Rommel, are still visible at the edge of the sand desert. Even when the soldiers from the Sweden-Finland army robbed also the nearby castle of Pieskowa Skala, the building itself was saved. Many poets have praised the majestic castle and the romantic surroundings, which now is the national park of Ojcow. In the exhibition halls of the small castle, one can admire some of the treasures from the collection of Wawel. The fate of the hundreds of castles and palaces in Poland, have been variable, due to the shambles of history. Those ones, which were turned into a museums, were the lucky ones says the director of the Castle of Pieskowa Skala. 

- The great Teuton Castle in Malbork, south of Gdnask is a priority number one for all people, interested about castles. The pretty Lancut east from Krakow, was saved from destruction and it still contains the original interior. The director how ever isn't too please, when saying that way too many castles are closed from the public. After the second world war, the assets were confiscated from the nobility and the communist politicians didn't have any plans, what to do with the great palaces and castles, where the nobility had been living. Some of them still contains a working hospitals, orphanages and sanatoriums. Some of the valuable buildings were left on their own and eventually robbed by the local people.