First published: 22/09/20.

Clyde 2.5

Malbork Castle

Malbork Castle (Inscribed)

Malbork Castle by Clyde

I visited this WHS in August 2020. Initially I had planned to visit early in the morning but once I arrived I immediately noticed that the best time for photography of the castle and the Nogat delta branch of the Vistula River is in the afternoon so after a quick walk around the rear side of the castle from where I bought my entrance ticket and got my audio guide, I 'revisited' in the afternoon after visiting Gdynia and Gdansk.

You can try your luck to park for free just next to the church/chapel outside the castle or else you can pay 30 zloty for the guarded parking area opposite the castle and cross the wooden bridge. The 13th-century Teutonic castle is the largest castle in the world by land area and the largest brick castle in the world by size. The outermost castle walls are 4 times the enclosed area of Windsor Castle. The favourable position of the castle on the Nogat allowed easy access by barges and trading ships arriving from the Vistula and the Baltic Sea. The Teutonic Knights collected river tolls from passing ships. They controlled a monopoly on the trade of amber, the amber room is one of the rooms worth mentioning and worth using your audio guide in (I used it in the castle's main courtyard, in the amber room and in the inner chapel and cloisters). When the city became a member of the Hanseatic League, many Hanseatic meetings were held there.

Apart from its huge size, I was really impressed by the exterior brick Gothic details of the castle. The photogenic views from the exterior of the castle walls would have sufficed had I been pressed for time, but I'm glad I made the extra effort to view the interior too and I think that overall it deserves being inscribed on the list (I agree with Els that the audio guide is way too detailed although I prefer visiting this way than being obliged to visit with a real guide only). The UNESCO WHS plaque is on the outer side of the covered wooden drawbridge from where your tickets are checked.

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