At the entrance to the Niedzica castle there is an inscription: "Caution: ghost!" But this warning not only does not scare away visitors, on the contrary, attracts them here from all over Europe. However, not only White Lady - the famous ghost of the castle - glorified him far beyond the borders of Poland. Lovers of medieval secrets are much more interested in the treasures of the Incas, hidden, as legend says, within the walls of the old fortress.
EIGHT PASSPORTS
The history of the castle is breathtaking. As usual, it was built in the most advantageous place - on the steep bank of the Dunajec River, near the village of Niedzica. The castle got its name in honor of the village. True, the locals also affectionately call him Dunajec. Although today the waters of the Chortshtinsky reservoir, not the calm Dunajec, are beating against the rock on which the castle rises. The area around is a fairy tale! In the distance, behind the castle, you can see the Pieniny - an unusually picturesque mountain range on the border between Poland and Slovakia. Somewhere behind them are the peaks of the Tatras. All this beautiful area nowadays attracts tourists, and in the old days, any more or less wealthy person dreamed of owning these lands. Often the struggle for territory was fought for life and death. Therefore, on a high (566 m) rock, defensive structures were built long ago,in the place of which in the XIV century representatives of a noble family from Hungary erected a majestic castle in order to protect the northern borders of the country. For a century, the castle was the property of the subjects of the Hungarian crown. Here financial issues between the Hungarian and Polish kings were resolved. In 1412, the Polish king sent his subjects to the castle with a large amount of money intended for the Hungarian king Sigismund as a ransom for sixteen towns in the Spis region. The Magyars kept their word, and soon the local lands became the property of the Poles. In 1470, a Polish aristocrat named Zapoliai received the Dunajec castle at his complete disposal. Then the fortress constantly changed owners - it was owned by Hungarians, Poles, Slovaks, and even Croats. As a result, over the centuries, the local population has become such a motley mass,that the so-called conference of ambassadors, called in 1920 to establish the ethnicity of the local population and resolve the territorial dispute, was completely confused and could not come to a consensus. Residents refused to identify themselves, most of them claiming that they were "local", and the Spiish dialect in which they spoke was such a bizarre mixture of Hungarian, Polish, Slovak and even German dialects that things reached a dead end. One local grandmother showed the ambassadors eight passports! And this despite the fact that the old woman never left her native village Niedzitsa. The bewildered ambassadors nevertheless decided to start from the fact that Poles live here more or less compactly, so the border was slightly shifted to the south, and the castle ended up on the territory of Poland.called in 1920 to establish the ethnicity of the local population and resolve the territorial dispute, it was completely confused and could not come to a consensus. Residents refused to identify themselves, most of them claiming that they were "local", and the Spiish dialect in which they spoke was such a bizarre mixture of Hungarian, Polish, Slovak and even German dialects that things reached a dead end. One local grandmother showed the ambassadors eight passports! And this despite the fact that the old woman never left her native village Niedzitsa. The bewildered ambassadors nevertheless decided to start from the fact that Poles live here more or less compactly, so the border was slightly shifted to the south, and the castle ended up on the territory of Poland.called in 1920 to establish the ethnicity of the local population and resolve the territorial dispute, it was completely confused and could not come to a consensus. Residents refused to identify themselves, most of them claiming that they were "local", and the Spiish dialect in which they spoke was such a bizarre mixture of Hungarian, Polish, Slovak and even German dialects that things reached a dead end. One local grandmother showed the ambassadors eight passports! And this despite the fact that the old woman never left her native village Niedzitsa. The bewildered ambassadors nevertheless decided to start from the fact that Poles live here more or less compactly, so the border was slightly shifted to the south, and the castle ended up on the territory of Poland.finally got confused and could not come to a consensus. Residents refused to identify themselves, most of them claiming that they were "local", and the Spiish dialect in which they spoke was such a bizarre mixture of Hungarian, Polish, Slovak and even German dialects that things reached a dead end. One local grandmother showed the ambassadors eight passports! And this despite the fact that the old woman never left her native village Niedzitsa. The bewildered ambassadors nevertheless decided to start from the fact that Poles live here more or less compactly, so the border was slightly shifted to the south, and the castle ended up on the territory of Poland.finally got confused and could not come to a consensus. Residents refused to identify themselves, most of them claiming that they were "local", and the Spiish dialect, in which they spoke, was such a bizarre mixture of Hungarian, Polish, Slovak and even German dialects that things reached a dead end. One local grandmother showed the ambassadors eight passports! And this despite the fact that the old woman never left her native village Niedzitsa. The bewildered ambassadors nevertheless decided to start from the fact that Poles live here more or less compactly, so the border was slightly shifted to the south, and the castle ended up on the territory of Poland.was such a bizarre mixture of Hungarian, Polish, Slovak and even German dialects that things were deadlocked. One local grandmother showed the ambassadors eight passports! And this despite the fact that the old woman never left her native village Niedzitsa. The bewildered ambassadors nevertheless decided to start from the fact that Poles live here more or less compactly, so the border was slightly shifted to the south, and the castle ended up on the territory of Poland.was such a bizarre mixture of Hungarian, Polish, Slovak and even German dialects that things were deadlocked. One local grandmother showed the ambassadors eight passports! And this despite the fact that the old woman never left her native village Niedzitsa. The bewildered ambassadors nevertheless decided to start from the fact that Poles live here more or less compactly, so the border was slightly shifted to the south, and the castle ended up on the territory of Poland.
INDIAN FOOTPRINT
The brightest page in the history of the castle was written by a certain Sebastian Berzewitsa, a representative of an old noble family and a legendary personality. According to legend, Bersewitz had a passionate and restless disposition. The prospect of spending his whole life within four walls, even if a beautiful castle, did not appeal to him, so he set off across the white world in search of adventure. At one time he fought in the Zaporizhzhya Army, then supposedly went to India, where he fought on the side of the colonists, and then the hard way brought him to the other side of the world - to South America. There, a European aristocrat fell head over heels in love with the daughter of a leader from the Inca tribe. The girl answered him in return, so her father blessed their union. In the marriage, the couple had a girl who was named Umin by the Indian name. In the epic of the Indians, you can still find stories about the beauty of Umina - the daughter of a white European rich man and a local Indian girl. At the end of the 18th century, the Indians in Peru revolted against the Spanish colonialists. Its leader, Tupac Amaru, sought the independence of his native land from the Spanish crown. His son Andres married Umina, and when the foreigners suppressed the uprising with incredible cruelty, Sebastian Berzewitsa invited his daughter, son-in-law and grandson to flee home. On the way home, they were stuck for a while in Italy, where the Spaniards overtook Andres and killed him. His son, the grandson of Berzewitsa, remained the sole heir not only of the Dunajec castle, but also of the Inca treasures, which his adult relatives took with them during the defeat of the rebellion. Umina fled with her son to his father's residence,and Sebastian Bersewitz arrived at the castle later with the jewels. In 1797, Umina was found dead - she was stabbed to death by some stranger who made his way into the castle walls. Fearing persecution, Sebastian Berzewitsa handed over his grandson to relatives from the Moravian family Beneši. For conspiracy purposes, the boy was renamed Anthony Beneš, and he calmly lived in Austria-Hungary until 1877 and died there, having managed to transfer the family archive to his son before his death. Ernst Beneš did not delve into the archive, but Anthony's grandson Andrzej turned out to be much more curious.and he calmly lived in Austria-Hungary until 1877 and died there, having managed to transfer the family archive to his son before his death. Ernst Beneš did not delve into the archive, but Anthony's grandson Andrzej turned out to be much more curious.and he calmly lived in Austria-Hungary until 1877 and died there, having managed to transfer the family archive to his son before his death. Ernst Beneš did not delve into the archive, but Anthony's grandson Andrzej turned out to be much more curious.
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FIND
In 1946, the peace of the castle in Niedzica was disturbed. A car drove into the gate and a respectable man in a formal suit and hat got out. And after a while, a part of the fortress wall was dismantled and a strange object - a tin pipe - was taken out into the white light. When it was opened, an even stranger thing fell out - coiled ropes and threads with knots from the wool of South American llamas. It turned out to be a kipu - the "abacus" of the Incas, which served them for a variety of purposes. With their help, the Indians made calculations, with them messenger couriers - chaski - moved along the imperial roads and transmitted information encrypted in a pile. Knot writing was so popular with the Incas that the Spanish chronicler José de Acosta wrote that “the entire Inca empire was governed by the kipu” and no one could escape those who counted with the knots. Andrzej Beneš said that he was able to find the kipa thanks to that very family archive. Further, his plans included finding the treasures of his ancestors. But first, he needed to find a specialist who could read the nodular message. And such in Europe could not be found. Anjdey Beneš was going to go to the other end of the world - to Peru to read the letter. One way or another, Benes organized expeditions to Peru, but in 1972 the entire group of search engines from Krakow disappeared without a trace. After that, Andrzej Beneš began to suppress all conversations on this topic. And then tragedy struck. On February 26, 1976, the party functionary Benes presided over the conference. Eyewitnesses recalled that that day he was worried about something … And in the evening his car crashed on the Warsaw-Gdansk highway. There were no witnesses of the accident. It was not possible to establish the reasons for the car accident, as well as the purpose of the trip of the member of the Polish Seim. Later, the family archive burned down during a fire in Benes' house.
Since then, the rumor has been that the treasures are cursed. They are guarded by the spirits of the Incas. And in the Dunajec castle you can see the White Lady - a ghost in white. They say it's Umina's ghost. The staff of the castle, which now houses the museum, is in no hurry to tell visitors about the Inca jewels. They believe that not only the one who tries to find them, but also the one who talks about them will be punished. The local population is also in no hurry to reveal ancient secrets, remembering the curse. But that, of course, doesn't stop treasure hunters from looking for the legendary treasure. However, so far unsuccessfully …
Irina PERFILOVA