What's Inside the Secret Zodiac Castle?

This might just be the most charming little castle in Europe, and it has everything you'd expect. Five towers, a dungeon, and an arcaded renaissance courtyard. However, beyond the obvious, it also features some highly unusual symbolism, including bizarre abstract carved plaster murals found even on the inner walls of the parapets, and more than 2,700 square meters of this artwork covers the estate. From a distance, it looks beautiful, but upon closer inspection, the patterns begin to feel almost like the illustrations of insanity. Yet the bigger symbolic mystery lies within the Divine Tower, a consecrated space so exquisitely decorated that some believers claim it resembles a missing chapel fragment from the Vatican. And at the center of this deeply religious chamber is something no one expects, a full cycle of the Zodiac, rendered in a sacred space where it seemingly doesn't belong. That Zodiac has been here for hundreds of years. So join me as we find out what's inside the castle. But first, the history. Before there was ever a castle, there was a family quickly climbing Poland's noble hierarchy. They began as regional landowners, but through military service, royal favor, and advantageous marriages, they gained wealth and status to the point that they required an architectural design to validate their standing to the world. But to understand the deeper story, I met up with a local expert. During the times of Marcin Krasicki, the castle served not only as a defensive castle, but also as a grand residence because he was a very powerful man. And he was the one who introduced all the decoration, he made the residential part bigger because it was important to him to not only have a defensive castle, but a castle that would show how powerful he is, right? So in addition to the courtyard that was empty that could serve for the defense, right, because all the people defending the castle would gather inside, they also had all those grand rooms where they could, for example, host the king, right, when the king arrived. It served a dual purpose, you could say. The castle was visited by four Polish kings, Zygmunt III, Władysław IV, Jan Kazimierz and August the Strong. King Zygmunt III arrived here during the times of Marcin Krasicki because he was a close friend of Marcin Krasicki. Marcin Krasicki, for example, aided him in his wars with interior enemies, and also he once saved his wife from the attack. So the king was quite grateful and, for example, he allowed him to not pay any taxes for all the land that he owned, which is why he was able to build such an enormous castle. So basically, the family built the estate in the late 1500s and shaped everything we see today. Though after their line ended, the estate passed through several noble lines, though none of whom made significant changes as the castle slowly declined. When Zapiecha family bought the castle at the beginning of the 19th century, they started to do some repairs and conservation, but unfortunately, on the eve of the wedding of Adam Zapiecha and Jadwiga Sanguszko, the castle was almost completely destroyed by fire. They were getting married in Kraków, but here in Krasiczyn they wanted to greet the newlyweds with fireworks, and they bought them, they stored them in the attic, and during the night the fire started. It was so grand that when the newlyweds arrived here after the wedding, they saw their future home in a terrible state. The only place untouched by fire was this tower, which is why the chapel still survives in the original state, mostly original state from the 17th century, but in here, in all the residential wings, the floors fell down, the stairs fell down, there was almost nothing surviving inside, there were just the outside walls, right? What year was that? That was 1852. Now we are in the family crypt of Zapiecha family. The first couple that bought this castle is Leon Zapiecha and his wife Jadwiga Zamoyska Zapiecha. They came here in the 19th century, that was the time when Poland was divided between Russia, Austria and Prussia. Leon and his wife Jadwiga were forced to leave their family home in the Russian partition, because Leon took part in November uprising, and as a result he lost all his land that was located over there. Here in Galicia, he bought Krasikin, and he soon became a very important public figure. For example, he devoted a lot of his time to the development of railways in Galicia, and also after Galicia gained local autonomy, he became the Marshal of the Diet of Galicia. But his private life was filled with tragedy. On this side, you can see the names of Leon's children. Out of eight, seven died at a very young age. That was probably due to genetic reasons, because the parents were very closely related. They were first cousins, and even before families crossed a few times for the wives, so that was a very dangerous thing to happen genetically. Just one child survived, the next owner of the castle, Adam Zapiecha. He was a very famous figure as well. He organized the help of Galicia for the National Uprising of 1863, January Uprising. Because of that, he was known as the Red Prince. He's actually the one who had that fire before his wedding with Jadwiga Sanguszko. After the fire for a time, he was so devastated that he wanted to sell the castle and move on, but in the end, he decided to start rebuilding, and they lived here for the rest of their lives. They were actually happier than the parents, because their children were growing healthily. They had seven children. The castle was inherited by the eldest son, Wladyslaw, and later by his son, Leon. And as fate would have it, Leon was the name of the first and last Zapiecha living in Krasice. In other words, sometimes even those who seem to have everything can be cursed by tragedy, and I was surprised to learn that the horrible events somehow followed them beyond the grave. In 1939, due to the pact Ribbentrop-Molotov, Poland was divided between Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia. The border was right here on the river San, and this was the Soviet side. Upon hearing this news, Leon and his wife, Katarzyna, left the castle in a hurry, and not having the time for a proper evacuation, they were forced to leave the castle at the mercy of the enemy. But the enemy didn't have it, and after Soviet troops entered the castle, they destroyed almost all that they found. They started a big fire in the courtyard that destroyed furniture, elements of decoration, paintings, and they even came here to the script. You can see close to the windows, we have those crushed gravestones, right? Made of marble. Those are the original ones. They were crushed. They took out the coffins from the walls and then left the bodies discarded in the middle of the script. Then, still during the Second World War, after Soviet soldiers left, Leon Zapiecha came back to the castle, and he buried everyone back in the walls. But in 1944, the Red Army once again took the castle, and they did the same thing. They came to the crypt, just thrown out all the bodies outside and left. So right now, the people are still buried in the walls, but because of all the destruction and all the scattered bones, we are not exactly sure if they are buried in the right place, right? This story is the most dramatic and ultimately the most tragic chapter in the castle's history. After World War II, the complex was nationalized, and although it was largely forgotten for decades, what had been left behind is simply awe-inspiring. So let's start in the courtyard. From the outside, this castle looks quite grand, but when you come into the actual quarters, it's not all that big. Is it true that these walls are kind of just empty facades to project a larger structure than we actually see? Yes, exactly. That's actually what remains from the defensive role of the castle because in addition to residential wings, they were adding just screen walls, right, to protect themselves during the siege. So they didn't have any need to add additional wings to those walls later, but they made them more decorative. For example, they added attics. They also introduced the windows, right, because at first they were just loopholes, right, for the shooting, but they replaced the loopholes with windows to make an impression that it's another residential wing, so the castle looked even bigger, right? We don't actually have a lot of rooms. We have the northern wing and the eastern wing. In the northern wing, you have all the rooms that would be used to host guests, such as the dining rooms and so on, and most of the living quarters were in the eastern wing. Unfortunately, right now, most of that is still not repaired. It's been speculated that tunnels and passages lie beneath this courtyard. Although those theories remain unproven, the dungeon does indeed offer a relatively untouched glimpse into the past. It was a private castle, and the owner wasn't some simple nobleman. He was a governor of Przemysl and so on, so he had an official function. So in his private castle, he didn't actually have a dungeon, right, because that would be illegal, and when he wanted to hold someone in a dungeon, he would do it officially in Przemysl, right? So during the times of Marcin Krasicki, that was just a basement, a wine cellar and so on. For example, he put to death two of the noblemen who were very dangerous people, and they raided many castles and manor houses, and they killed people, but he also had a rivalry over money with them, right? But it was quite just that he arrested them and put them to death. How common was it for a peasant or a nobleman to be put to death? What would you have to do to get that punishment? Well, that was usually for something very heavy, such as murder and armed robbery and things like that. For simple thievery, for example, you had various punishment. At first, they would brand you, right? You would be branded and whipped, and if you were caught a second time, then they would cut off your hand, right? So that was also quite severe punishment. They were also punishing people for some other crimes that wouldn't be called crimes today. For example, there was a punishment where someone lost their virginity, right? But that would be just, they would be placed next to a wall in a coir, right? And they would have to stand like this for a time, and they would then be let go, right? If they were caught for that. Back above ground are the towers, and this is where the more profound symbolism emerges. We have four different corner towers, right? Each tower symbolizes a different part of hierarchy. First, we have the Divine Tower, dedicated to God. The Divine Tower is crowned with a dome that's supposed to resemble the Basilica of Saint Peter in Rome, and inside there is a chapel that survives from the 17th century. Then we have the Papal Tower. Papal Tower is crowned with an attic resembling a part of a papal tiara from the 17th century, and it's dedicated to Pope, who represented God on earth. Then we have the Royal Tower, which is crowned with roof and six small turrets that were those small towers where you could look for the enemies that were approaching, right? So we have, once again, the dual purpose of the castle. And it's dedicated to the king, because the king had the most of the earthly power, right, in here. And the last corner tower is the Noble Tower, which is crowned with an attic resembling hills of swords. It's dedicated to the noblemen who are supposed to defend that hierarchy, that order, so the swords symbolize that purpose. Those themes are the four pillars of Cruscian, and the best way to absorb their meaning is from the Clock Tower above. Clock Tower wasn't originally there. It was added in the 17th century by Marcin Krasicki. It was a symbol of power because it resembled a spear, right, a spear that would be put inside the ground. So this is the origin of the shape of the tower. And it was the main entrance during the 17th century. It connected the castle to the Hungarian route and also to the town of Krasicki, right, because at first the town of Krasicki was founded on the west of the castle. It mostly moved because of the floods that were happening, right? So it's now mostly on the other side of the castle. So now it's time to go up the Clock Tower, which originally was said to be a sun clock, right? Yes, originally in the 17th century they made the Clock Tower with the sun clock. Then it was removed to make space for loggia, which we can see today. And probably later on there was a mechanical clock in here. So there is a story of this tower actually collapsing during the fire, right? Yes, someone who recounted the story of the fires stated that the top of the tower fell down together with the bells that were at the top. And some scientists that were describing the castle speculate that the clock was also there during that time. Mechanical clock. And as to the sun clock that was here before, we know that it was moved to the outer walls. The outer walls at the end of the park. So to make the space for the loggia. The stairs are also not original. I can see that. Yeah, but it's actually a bit of a funny story because we know that the stairs survived the war, but later on someone stole them. The stairs were stolen from here. We don't know by whom. This is so high. The wind is blowing differently up here. But if you look out the window, the mountains around us are just as high or higher. So it's like canceling out the effect. And it's actually also quite unusual because defensive castles would be built usually on top of the hill and ours in the valley. So that's very unusual. But it was close to the passage on the river, which is why they wanted to protect the passage and they added the castle next to it. But that was a long time ago because the sun is actually a mountain river. So it's changed quite a lot for the ages. And it was also changed artificially because Zapieha family moved the river a bit farther away because of those floods that were destroying the village. And also they were coming almost to the papal tower, right? So they were afraid that the walls would be destroyed and they decided to move the river a bit. So in the 19th century, the river was moved away to protect Rzeszin from floods. Can you show me where the original place would have been? River San was very close, almost as close as here. As you can see now, this lake, right? Artificial lake. And when they moved the river, they added this lake because they wanted to still have the mirror for the walls, right? Because it was supposed to create a special view, right? If we turn to the noble tower, it's absolutely covered in sgraffito or plaster engravings, some of which repeat constantly and appear within spaces that no one would ever be able to see. For example, I found these scratched X patterns everywhere. And after doing some deeper research, I learned that their meaning could be empty. Their Renaissance faux stonework carved into plaster to imitate heavily rusticated blocks inscribed in places no visitor would ever see. You see, the builders finished with this pattern as it reflected craftsmanship and a belief that harmony mattered everywhere, even in places that are unseen, which I found to be a strange sentiment for the noble tower when considering that it was meant to be a projection of the illusion of wisdom. At first, it was one of the defensive towers. Later on, it was used by all the owners differently. For example, during the times of Sapieha family, it was a library for a time. But then, because they had a lot of books, they moved them to a special library. And one of the rooms in the noble tower was made in the place of remembrance, you could say, because they had a lot of artifacts from the history of the family and so on. And actually, most of those things survived the Second World War, but we don't have them here because they were very important to the family. So when they were escaping, they took all those things with them. But despite the fact that this space is not prepared for tourists, for me, it's very special. It feels a little more authentic. Oh, the view is spectacular. And as if this view wasn't enough, a rainbow appeared, a gesture from nature that I couldn't help but attest to my surroundings. As it seems, the four pillars of the castle, as established in its architecture, seem to be ideas universal enough to guide us all. The royal tower signifies strength. And it's simply monumental in scale. The bastion flexes outward towards the top, creating a defensive ring. Whereas the inside was just as interesting as it featured some unexpected hidden passageways. So here we have one of the secret passages in the castle. If you reach here, you can open the door and you reach a corridor. And this is one of the ways to go to the royal tower. But right now, the other end is closed. So we have to go around. During the times of Sapieha family, the guests, they would enter the grand rooms of the house where all the parties were taking place. The royal tower, a waiting room before the party, right? So they put their things that people would find interesting, so to pass the time before the party. There was some artwork there and billiards and also some books and photographs. This is the secret passage. That is where you could go to the Swiss pavilion today. Passageway out to the toilets. Yes. And here they had the door. Yes, they could enter. But not all the time, because during the Sapieha family, they actually had an internal plumbing in the castle. Now, if we approach the front, we'll come upon Grzesin's most potent symbolism, authority. The papal tower brings moral order, which in the Renaissance worldview was the guiding force of doctrine and learning. The idea that a person's early life should be shaped by spiritual instruction. Its placement here was intentional. This was the tower that announced virtue, judgment and the moral expectations of the household. It was a declaration that the family's authority rested not only on noble blood, but also on alignment with the church's highest ideals. The interiors of the tower were showing things related to the Pope. For example, in the 17th century, you could see the entrance of the Pope to the Vatican, the election of the Pope, portraits of the Pope, but all of that is gone. And it was even gone before the fire because Cossacks in the 18th century done a lot of destruction in this tower. And this is the papal tower. As you can see, we have only some remnants of the polychrome that used to show scenes from the life of the Pope. All of that is gone, unfortunately. If you take a look at the portal, it looks like that because of the fire. It melted. It's made of marble and it melted like that. So you can imagine the destruction in the castle. And to that effect, we finally reach the divine tower where we came across the castle's biggest mystery, the Zodiac cycle on the floor of the Catholic Church. Okay, and now we go to the chapel. The portal is also original from the 17th century. You can see a lot of figures in here. For example, the founders of the castle, Stanisław Krasicki and Marcin Krasicki. The door is original as well. And this is actually the only wooden element in the castle that survives from the 17th century, right? Because inside the chapel, we have the constructions of the wooden elements. And before in the eastern wing, you could see some elements that are original, but from the 19th century. On the photographs, you can see the interiors of the tower, the chapel at the end of the 19th century. One of the most unusual things in this entire castle, in my opinion, is this Zodiac in the center of the church. I've never seen that before. It's original from the 17th century. This whole part of the floor is original. During that time, they used the symbols of Zodiac to symbolize the passing of a year, because we have 12 signs of Zodiac, like 12 months. And it was supposed to contrast our time, the time that moves with the time of God, the time that doesn't move. Because if you look up from what's beneath our feet, you will see a lantern. And in the lantern, you have the figure of God, right? The God that rules in eternity, the time that doesn't move. And here, the time doesn't move the same as in the house of God, right? So you had mentioned that this is mostly intact, that the Soviets couldn't reach here. Well, they entered the chapel, but they couldn't reach the upper part, right? Because it's a very high place. So they destroyed wooden elements from the lower part, such as the benches that are no longer here. They destroyed the altar as well. This one is a reconstruction, because it was possible to reach it. They just destroyed the lower part and then it fell down. But the decoration that you can see on the walls and on the ceiling, most of that survived. In many ways, the Divine Tower is the heart of Kyrgyzstan, representing the highest realm of existence, the place where mortal meets the eternal. Importantly, unlike almost everything else we saw today, this tower wasn't meant to reflect power or status, but the belief that every life begins under the Divine. And that's what's inside Kyrgyzstan Castle. I hope you guys liked the episode. And until next time, I'm Ryan Socash, bidding you farewell.