The second most popular Krakow castle in Poland after Wawel. A monumental, “castle-like” fortress made of prefabricated concrete panels, it was built between 1985 and 1994 using the stable and flexible SBM-75 technology. The entire complex was designed by Leszek Filar in collaboration with Krystyna Sołhaj-Janczykowska and Joanna Matuszek, who partially revised the design following the lead architect’s tragic death in 1989. Among other changes, due to the investor’s financial difficulties, the main building was reduced from 17 to 11 stories.

Over the years, the postmodernist project in Czyżyny has garnered a multitude of derisive comments and epithets, such as “Wawel made of prefabricated concrete panels,” “royal housing estate,” and “a castle from Arabian Nights.” Filar himself, rejecting accusations of forced exoticism and mockery of the “Baghdad of Czyżyny” (where he designed for several years), pointed to regional and Polish inspirations, including our “northern barbarism,” meaning the enormous, sloping roofs of Wawel Castle, St. Mary’s Basilica, and Polish manor houses. Co-designer Joanna Matuszek, in turn, cited inspiration from the work of Teodor Talowski and the adjacent auditorium of the Academy of Physical Education. In recent years, criticism of the Czyżyny castle has subsided, but Filar’s concept is increasingly receiving favorable attention from popular media and recognized by architecture critics as one of the most compelling examples of Polish postmodernism of the 1980s. Address: Stanisławy Wysocka 2A, 2B, 2C, Czyżyny, Kraków.