What happened
The castles of Bobolice and Mirów stand only about one and a half kilometres apart, and legend binds them into a single story. They were supposedly home to the brothers Bobol and Mir, so alike that even their servants confused them. They kept the treasures of their campaigns in an underground tunnel between the castles, guarded by an old witch with red eyes and an evil spirit in the body of a huge dog. The brothers' harmony ended when Bobol brought back a beautiful captive. Mir, convinced his brother was deceiving him, lay in wait in the tunnel, killed him and had the girl walled up in the dungeon. In other versions she threw herself from the tower or died when the vault collapsed. Ever since, a woman's figure is said to appear in the ruins, and weeping is heard at night. Locals also told of the ghost of a countess forced into an unhappy marriage.
Witnesses
Folk tradition of the Niegowa area; the legend is retold in guidebooks to the Eagles' Nests Trail and on tourism websites.
Explanations and hypotheses
Bobolice Castle was built in the mid-14th century on the orders of King Casimir the Great, probably in 1350–1352, as part of the border defences facing Silesia. Bobol and Mir are legendary figures – the castles take their names from the villages, not from owners. No tunnel linking the two fortresses has ever been found. In the early 21st century Bobolice Castle was rebuilt from ruin, sparking a dispute among conservationists, while Mirów remains a picturesque ruin.
Legend A story handed down through generations – it can be neither confirmed nor disproved.
Sources
- Ryszard Rogiński, Zamki i twierdze w Polsce: historia i legendy (Instytut Wydawniczy Związków Zawodowych, 1990)
- Jacek Bednarek, Bobolice – zamek królewski (zamkipolskie.com, 2015)
- Łukasz Mikołaj Sadowski, Authentic or not? Art historian's reflections on castle reconstructions in contemporary Poland (Protection of Cultural Heritage, 2025)
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