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Fort 2 ‘Kościuszko’ and FS-3 rampart: where to look at Kraków from above

St Bronislava’s Hill, on which Tadeusz Kościuszko’s Mound was raised, towers over the city. The Austrians regarded it as a key part of Kraków’s defence system that makes it possible to defend the city from attack from the west. The fort was built in 1851–1856, and an auxiliary fortification system was erected near it in 1907–1910.

Although the fort was perfectly prepared for long-distance and short-distance combat, it did not take part in World War I. During World War II, the Germans blew up a part of its ramparts; after the war, the new Polish authorities tried to demolish the fort. The demolition work was eventually abandoned in the 1960s. The fort initially served as barracks and then as a hotel; at the beginning of the 1990s, the first Polish private radio station, RMF FM, moved into some of its buildings. A museum devoted to Tadeusz Kościiuszko is also housed nearby.

In 1854, an earthen rampart was raised in the vicinity of the fort. It has survived the expansion of the Fortress in an almost intact condition, which is a unique phenomenon. A beautiful panoramic view of Błonia Park stretches out from there. Within easy reach of the fort, you can also see other interesting structures of the Fortress: flanking devices at Vlastimila Hofmana Street and the intersection of Jerzego Waszyngtona Avenue and Jacka Malczewskiego Street – one of the first double-level intersections in Kraków, called the ‘Devil’s Bridge’.

Accessibility: see information on: www.kopieckosciuszki.pl.