Location and history
The town is located in the north-western part of the Wałbrzych Upland, in the upper course of the Nysa Szalona river. Its history is very rich, and its fate was closely connected to the castle built at the end of the 13th century. In the then Duchy of Świdnica, later Świdnica-Jawor, it served as the main residence of the ruler. In the first half of the 14th century, the town received various privileges that strengthened its position, but the subsequent centuries were not as favorable, and Bolków never developed into a larger urban settlement.
Attractions of the town
The town’s centre is occupied by an elongated market square stretching from north to south. In the middle of it stands the town hall, in its current form from the first half of the 19th century. The western side is formed by arcaded tenement houses. To the south of the square stands the Church of St. Hedwig, built in the 13th century, renovated and expanded several times, with a tower from the mid-19th century. The wall of the presbytery is embedded with five Renaissance and Baroque epitaphs. The former 19th-century Evangelical church, no longer serving religious functions and renovated as a cultural facility, is also present. Within the park complex on Ryszard’s Hill, to the east of the centre, there are remnants of an underground armaments factory from World War II.
In several places, including the Castle Hill, greenstone rocks, which are ancient submarine basaltic lavas from the early Paleozoic era, with pillow lava structures, are exposed.
The map of Bolków’s legends:
Description: Piotr Migoń
