Szlaki województw śląskiego i opolskiego

Byczyna is one of the few cities in Poland where medieval city walls have been almost entirely preserved to modern times. The first city fortifications of Byczyna were erected in the 13th century from fieldstone and broken stone. In subsequent centuries, among others due to the invention of gunpowder, and thus changes in war tactics, the walls were built up with brick. The total length of the elliptical ring with which the walls surround the city is 912 meters, and their average height ranges from 5.5 to 6 meters. The walls were erected from brick and broken stone, on a foundation of erratic boulders and are reinforced with massive buttresses. The fortifications also include two 15th-century gate towers and a 16th-century bastion. The German Gate with a visible ground floor passage pierced at the end of the 19th century, above which there are narrow arrow slits, is located at Okrężna Street, the Polish Gate, where the Austrian Archduke Maximilian Habsburg was supposed to capitulate after losing the battle with the troops of Jan Zamoyski, stands at Zamoyskiego Street, and the Sand Bastion defending the southern entrance to the city at Floriańska Street. The whole was surrounded by a moat, a fragment of which connecting with the city park has been preserved to this day. Practical information: Sightseeing time: 1 hour. Admission: free. Paid parking on Żwirki i Wigury Street.