FORTE CULTURA Tourist Guide Book

30 \\ TOURIST GUIDE BOOK EXPERIENCE CULTURAL HERITAGE TRAVEL ARCHITECTURE FORTIFIED PALACES Fortified palace Hartenfels, Torgau [DE] D uring the Renaissance the princes of Europe outdid one another in the construction of magnificent palaces. Yet, the many wars also posed the threat of their destruction. In many places a particular combination of palace architecture and fortress architecture was used. Richly adorned façades, wonderful parks and expansive gardens were surrounded with bastions equipped with bastions, formidable ramparts and entrance gates fitted with crenels. Named “Palazze en Fortezza” in Italian, they combine military power and feudal splendour, without merging the two. The Książ palace complex in Silesia [PL] is one of the most attractive and largest fortified palaces in Central Europe. Pardubice Palace [CZ] on the Elbe is among the earliest fortified palaces. The Hartenfels palaces in Torgau , the famous Willibaldsburg in Bavaria [DE] and the Ukrainian Pidhirtsi are worth visiting. The palaces in Jülich and Krzyżtopór are embedded in formidable citadels. The magnificent Schwerin Palace was built on a for- tress whose bastions were retained. Many mansions were given bastions at a later date, such as Nowy Wiśnicz near Kraków. In the 19th century the need for protection was no longer the reason for fortifying palaces. Many owners of palaces added elements of fortress construction as architectonic decoration and for the particular charm of the contrast. It had become fashionable to make a palace look “old” and “formidable” as a sign of supposedly rich history and for purposes of nostalgia. These architectonic hybrids create excitement for visitors and provide a new perspective of the magnificent palaces. Fortified palaces Behind lock and key – fortress architecture adorns palaces With fortified elements equipped residential palaces, serving as safeguard against offenders or as architectural embellishment.