Zamek w Szydłowcu, Szydłowiec

Castle in Szydłowiec - a former Gothic-Renaissance residence of the Szydłowiec and Radziwiłł families and of Duchess Anna Sapieżyna, which is one of the town's main monuments.

It was built by Stanislaw Szydłowiecki in the years 1470-1480 on the site of the former castle. In the years 1515-1526 the Gothic castle was rebuilt and extended into a Renaissance residence by Mikołaj Szydłowiecki. Between 1619-1629 Albrycht Władysław Radziwill carried out the last reconstruction of the castle in late Renaissance and Baroque style.

In 1802 the castle and the Szydłowiec estate were purchased by Duchess Anna Sapieżyna Zamoyska, who sold it in 1828 to the Treasury of the Kingdom of Poland. Soon afterwards it was leased to Maurice Engerman, who arranged a beer warehouse there. Unused since the mid-19th century, it was falling into disrepair; it was not until the 1960s that the building was fully renovated. The castle was handed over to the local public institutions; at present it is the seat of Szydłowiec Culture and Sports Centre and the Museum of Folk Musical Instruments.