The only vestige of the doughty castle that once housed Opole's dukes is this tilting 33m-high watchtower, with walls 3m thick and foundations 6m deep. Built in the early 13th century, the castle was pulled down in the 1920s to make room for office buildings. Entry is by 30-minute guided tours for up to 10 people, in which you can climb the 163 steps to the top for a panoramic view over the city.
Piast Tower
Silesia
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
Cathedral of SS James and Agnes
29 MILES
Nysa’s mighty cathedral dominates the northern end of the Rynek with its imposing walls of time-soiled brick and a vast gabled roof – one of the steepest…
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Franciscan Church of the Holy Trinity
0.12 MILES
This church off the southern corner of the Rynek was built of brick around 1330. It boasts an ornate high altar, an 18th-century organ and a domed…
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28.91 MILES
Established in Nysa's grand 17th-century Bishops' Palace in 1897, this museum exhibits include local archaeology from prehistory to early modern times…
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0.27 MILES
Two blocks east of the market square, this museum is housed in a former Jesuit college dating to 1698, with the more recent addition of a glass-and…
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29.18 MILES
Built between 1720 and 1727 for the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, this church has one of Silesia’s best baroque interiors, complete with elaborate stucco…
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29.08 MILES
Diverse architecture within Nysa's vast market square suggests the extent of damage done in WWII. Only the southern side retains anything akin to its…
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29.05 MILES
The restored 17th-century St Hedwig’s Bastion once housed a Prussian garrison and French prisoners during the Franco-Prussian war of 1870. Beneath the…
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29.15 MILES
This four-storey 14th-century brick tower is now freestanding, but once guarded a gate through the town walls. Note its unusual turrets and dragon…
Nearby Silesia attractions
1. Franciscan Church of the Holy Trinity
0.12 MILES
This church off the southern corner of the Rynek was built of brick around 1330. It boasts an ornate high altar, an 18th-century organ and a domed…
0.14 MILES
Though badly damaged during WWII, Opole’s central market square was rebuilt after the conflict. It’s lined with handsome sand-coloured baroque and rococo…
0.15 MILES
The centrepiece of Opole’s market square has a 64m-high tower modelled after that of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence; it looks a little overly grand here…
0.2 MILES
Dating to the late 13th century, this Gothic cathedral just north of the Rynek features 73m-high towers and mostly baroque interior furnishing. The lovely…
0.27 MILES
Two blocks east of the market square, this museum is housed in a former Jesuit college dating to 1698, with the more recent addition of a glass-and…
0.29 MILES
Now part of the University of Opole, this church is a relic of a former monastery and also spent time as a hospital. It's an interesting mix of…
28.91 MILES
Established in Nysa's grand 17th-century Bishops' Palace in 1897, this museum exhibits include local archaeology from prehistory to early modern times…
28.92 MILES
Originally guarding a gate to Nysa's city walls, the white-plastered Wrocław Tower was built in the 14th century and added to in the 17th.