Kraków Fortress

Kraków fortress (Festung Krakau) refers in the narrow sense to the 19th century Austro-Hungarian fortifications, and in the larger sense - to the interconnected fortifications in Kraków, Poland, including 18th century Kościuszko Insurrection fortifications, and the medieval Wawel castle and city walls. Built in the years 1853-1861, the original fortifications were demolished 1950's, reportedly for gaining bricks. The only remnants of the fortress is one of the three so-called Maximilian towers, known as St. Benedict Fort.

St. Benedict Fort

St. Benedict Fort (Fort św. Benedykta) is the only one of three surviving fortresses built in Podgórze in the mid-19th century to protect the Vistula River and the road to Lviv. It is located atop the Krzemionki cliffs on Lasota Hill, and takes its name from the adjacent St. Benedict's church. The fortress quickly lost its usefulness in the 1890s. Since, it was used as an Austrian military barracks and converted into apartments in the 1950s. Today, it lies in general dereliction, filled with abandoned furniture and building materials. The fort has recently been transferred back to the property of the city of Kraków, with plans for its renovation awaiting approval.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Forts in Kraków.

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, May 03, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.