The ruins of the Castle of the Dukes of Mazovia

Sochaczew, Poland, Poland

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The ruins of the Castle of the Dukes of Mazovia in Sochaczew, Poland, stand on Castle Hill along the Bzura River, originating as a 12th-13th century settlement with a wooden-earth stronghold built by Duke Konrad I of Mazovia as the seat of the Sochaczew castellany, first noted in 1221.

Rebuilt in brick during the mid-14th century under Duke Siemowit III the Elder after a 1286 Lithuanian raid destroyed the original, it gained political importance hosting the 1377 congress that enacted the Sochaczew Statutes—Mazovia's first written laws—and served as a ducal residence until Mazovia's 1467 incorporation into Poland, later functioning as a starosta seat.

Expanded around 1630 into an early Baroque residence after a landslide damaged its walls, it faced Swedish destruction in the mid-17th century Deluge and final ruin by Prussians during the 1794 Kościuszko Uprising, leaving today only secured fragments of walls, a tower chapel, and an eastern gate amid ongoing revitalization efforts.