Malbork

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Malbork is only 80 km (50 miles) from Sopot, so it only took an hour or so (via Lidl) to drive here.

We do love a Lidl special offer magazine – it looks like a barbecue week next week!

In the 13th century Malbork was the capital of the Teutonic State, one of medieval Europe’s most powerful states, and at 59 acres the famous castle still claims to be the largest in the world. We’ve visited plenty of castles and, having spent half a day walking round it, we’re not going to argue! The castle suffered significant damage in WWII, and a major restoration project was completed in 2016. It’s now a UNESCO World Heritage site. The site we’re staying at is very conveniently located, just a five minute walk from the castle.

The view from our van door
How the castle looked in 1945
The view from outside – you can just make out the reconstructed Madonna
The inner courtyard
Statues of the great and the good in the courtyard
The refectory
A cloister, with a lovely vaulted ceiling
Good to see that the fire brigade were being shown around
This one needs to go on a diet
Lovely carvings on a doorway depicting the parable of the ten virgins
The chapel

There’s not much else to see or do in Malbork, though this morning we did go for a walk to the railway station which has also been restored to its former (pre-1945) glory.

Malbork railway station
Inside the station
One of my favourite cities

This afternoon was spent completing our tax returns, which was painful, but I managed to submit them both without filling the swear box up too much, so that’s out of the way now for another year.

Tomorrow we set off for Wilczy Szaniec (Polish) or Wolfsschanze (German) – AKA Wolf’s Lair, which will be our last stop in Poland before we enter Lithuania.

Mike