Visited with some friends that are not on the forum. We set out to see the Castle of Lapalice – a strange unfinished building in the wilderness of northern Poland, famous among explorers and locals.
On our way there we decided to have a quick look at a meat processing plant in Zukowo. The access was very easy, the place was impressive because of the size of it, unfortunately all the machines had been removed, leaving only empty halls.
Next we stopped in Kartuzy looking for a café and found this little bonus: disused steam locomotive. It turned out the whole railway station in Kartuzy had been shut down leaving the city of 15 000 people with no train connections at all.
Inside:
We got out of Kartuzy, drove through Lapalice and took a small road which we thought should lead to the castle. It's located in a wood in the middle of nowhere so we had problems finding it. We spotted a local and before we managed to ask her for directions she said "To the castle you go down this road".
Finally we pulled in front of the gate and our hearts sunk as we got out of the car. We could hear some loud repetitive noises from the inside. "Builders!" we moaned.
A friend of mine climbed the gate to have a look over it. "Don't worry, it's only paintballers!" There were about 15 of them running amok all over the building while we were there which made it quite difficult to explore and take shots of the inside...
Anyway, here it is, the mysterious Castle of Lapalice.
View from one of the towers. The Castle has 12 of them, like 12 Apostles.
The main gate
Chapel
Top floor
Artificial lake in front of the Castle
Inside the tower
Lift shaft
The Castle is a mystery. Its construction began in late 80's/early 90's and its beginnings are as dodgy as the whole period of Polish transformation. The owner is an artist and a businessman trading in furniture. He never got any of the plans and permissions sorted properly. He was only allowed to build "a single family home with a sculpture studio" and he built a castle instead. He was a successful entrepreneur, his furniture company employing over 100 people. Then, possibly as a result of a conflict with local politicians, his business went bust. To this day he hasn't been able to finish "the work of his life". Nobody knows what he wanted the Castle to be: a hotel for tourists, a private accommodation or something else. I found one interview with him on the internet (entitled "I'm not a madman" :-) ) in which he says he still plans to finish the castle, he's had a vision of it all his life but what exactly he wants it to be is his "sweet secret"...
If you want to see some more pictures, check here:
Foto Galeria "Zamek w Łapalicach" zdjęcia by spens
I don't know this guy but his pictures are great. And there are more pictures of the inside of the Castle (the ceilings are interesting) which we couldn't really take because of the place being a paintball warzone.
On our way there we decided to have a quick look at a meat processing plant in Zukowo. The access was very easy, the place was impressive because of the size of it, unfortunately all the machines had been removed, leaving only empty halls.
Next we stopped in Kartuzy looking for a café and found this little bonus: disused steam locomotive. It turned out the whole railway station in Kartuzy had been shut down leaving the city of 15 000 people with no train connections at all.
Inside:
We got out of Kartuzy, drove through Lapalice and took a small road which we thought should lead to the castle. It's located in a wood in the middle of nowhere so we had problems finding it. We spotted a local and before we managed to ask her for directions she said "To the castle you go down this road".
Finally we pulled in front of the gate and our hearts sunk as we got out of the car. We could hear some loud repetitive noises from the inside. "Builders!" we moaned.
A friend of mine climbed the gate to have a look over it. "Don't worry, it's only paintballers!" There were about 15 of them running amok all over the building while we were there which made it quite difficult to explore and take shots of the inside...
Anyway, here it is, the mysterious Castle of Lapalice.
View from one of the towers. The Castle has 12 of them, like 12 Apostles.
The main gate
Chapel
Top floor
Artificial lake in front of the Castle
Inside the tower
Lift shaft
The Castle is a mystery. Its construction began in late 80's/early 90's and its beginnings are as dodgy as the whole period of Polish transformation. The owner is an artist and a businessman trading in furniture. He never got any of the plans and permissions sorted properly. He was only allowed to build "a single family home with a sculpture studio" and he built a castle instead. He was a successful entrepreneur, his furniture company employing over 100 people. Then, possibly as a result of a conflict with local politicians, his business went bust. To this day he hasn't been able to finish "the work of his life". Nobody knows what he wanted the Castle to be: a hotel for tourists, a private accommodation or something else. I found one interview with him on the internet (entitled "I'm not a madman" :-) ) in which he says he still plans to finish the castle, he's had a vision of it all his life but what exactly he wants it to be is his "sweet secret"...
If you want to see some more pictures, check here:
Foto Galeria "Zamek w Łapalicach" zdjęcia by spens
I don't know this guy but his pictures are great. And there are more pictures of the inside of the Castle (the ceilings are interesting) which we couldn't really take because of the place being a paintball warzone.
