Kruszwica

more than a year ago

Mouse Tower in Kruszwica, Poland

Kruszwica, Poland. Photo by Jędrycha.

Technically this is not Wielkopolska (it's actually the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship) but it's history is associated with the Piast dynasty, that is synonymous with the earlier. Found on the banks of Lake Gopło this is a historic market town that became one of the first fortified settlements in the region. Your camera lens is going to primarily be zooming in on the Mouse Tower (PL: Mysia Wieża), a 32-metre structure sitting on the Rzępowski Peninsula. Built during the reign of Casimir III the Great, the tower has been associated with the legend of Prince Popiel. He was the last ruler of the mythical 9th/10th-century Popielid dynasty, who fell out of favour with his subjects because of his wicked ways. His 12 uncles conspired to depose him, upon which he had them poisoned during a grand feast. Instead of customary cremation, he disrespectfully cast the bodies into Lake Gopło, the stench of which attracted hordes of mice. When Popiel's subjects discovered what he'd done, they rebelled and drove the Prince and his equally-wicked wife into the tower by the lake. The final act of the legend has the mice ascending the tower and eating Popiel and his wife alive. After the Popelids' demise, it's alleged that 'Piast the Wheelright' took over as ruler of the region, thus beginning the Piast dynasty and making Kruszwica their pre-Gniezno centre of operations.