The castle in Stobnica, located in the middle of a nature protection zone in northern Poland is considered one of the most controversial developments in the country. Despite that, the construction is generating huge interest among tourists. The owner of Stobnica Castle has unveiled his plans for this year’s holidays.

Since 2015, an imitation of a medieval castle has been under construction on an artificially raised island on a lake near the village of Stobnica. The structure, measuring approximately 150 metres long and 100 metres wide, with a tower reaching 50 metres could become the country’s greatest stronghold when completed.

The castle in Stobnica is still unfinished, but its owner wants to capitalise on the interest generated by the building. The building, until recently, completely inaccessible to the public, invited tourists for the first time this year. On May Day, visitors to Stobnica could take part in several attractions prepared by the castle’s owner, reports Polish daily Rzeczpospolita. 

What the owners propose is an event called “The Siege of Stobnica castle” during which the tourist will be able to dress in medieval armour or shoot crossbows to feel like the warriors of the knight’s age. 

So far, the owner of the castle has not revealed the date for its completion. However, it appears that even the unfinished one is attracting fans of stylised architecture and history buffs. 

The funny fact is that the castle is frequently compared to the famous Neuschwanstein castle in Bavaria which was built with tremendous financial effort by the famous patron of Richard Wagner, King Ludwig Wittelsbach II. The financial resources of the Bavarian king were proving insufficient for increasingly complicated projects, forcing Ludwig II to take out many loans. In 1883 he was more than 7 million marks in debt, and in 1885 he was threatened with being put on auction for the first time. 

As we can see a comparable project in Poland required a significantly determined businessman with no aristocratic background. 

Photo: X/worden_van

Tomasz Modrzejewski