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Archaeologists to look through remains of Teutonic Castle

By Michał Orłowski

Polish archaeologists will be exploring Ełk Castle for the first time in ten years. The building, located in northeastern Poland, is privately owned property and there are plans to build the hotel at the site. Workers want to make sure the castle hasn’t got any secrets to hide.

Led by Rafał Herman, the archaeologist are targeting the cellars of Ełk Castle, which was built by the Teutonic Order in the late fourteenth century. The site underwent several modifications over the centuries, including serving as a prison.

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“The plan covers the cellars,” explains Rafał Herman. “She wasn’t available to us, because the room has been buried. It could be like that for 500 years. Future research will examine the side of building and house at street Zamkowa 5, where we didn’t start the investigation.”

The archaeologists are trying to know how much of the island was taken up by the castle. They also hope to find some monuments in this area.

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The last research was carried out in 2011 and 2012, which showed that sketches of the building from 1827 made by Johann Giese were wrong. After analysis, it was agreed that the oldest part of the complex was a residential and defence tower. The island on its own wasn’t divided into two parts, and the moat was surrounding the whole building. The archaeologists believe that the medieval castle had at least four storeys, probably a granary in its attic, and was expanded in 1497.

Top Image: Site of the Teutonic Castle – photo by 1957birth / Wikimedia Commons

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