The text describes the village of Felsztyn. The history of the place is briefly outlined, with particular reference to the eponymous defensive tower near the church. The tower was to have served as a bell tower, erected back in the 15th century. The text goes on to give a historical as well as physical description of this fortification. It is also recalled that in 1808 part of the bastion collapsed and discussions are ongoing about the restoration of this monument (Source: "Ziemia. Tygodnik Krajoznawczy Ilustrowany" Warsaw 1923, no. 10, p. 194-195, after: Wielkopolska Biblioteka Cyfrowa).

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Włodzimierz Fischer
HERBURT TOWER IN FELSZTYN

The World War brought us great, often irreparable losses in the field of relics of our past, and above all in the field of building monuments. With the exception of a few districts of western Lesser Poland, Poznan and Silesia, the rest of the country suffered direct, greater or lesser damage, which was considerable, especially in eastern Lesser Poland and especially in Podkarpacie, where long and fierce battles were fought.

One of the villages badly affected by the warfare was Felsztyn, located in the Starosamborski district, in the Strwiąż valley, the nest of the Herburts, whose history since the 14th century is closely linked to the fate of this family of merit in Poland.

After the Herburts, who died out in the middle of the 17th century to Jan Lew, a local parish church from the 15th century, built in the Gothic style, remained here as one of the most valuable and oldest architectural monuments in eastern Malopolska. This church has several significant historical monuments of the Herburt family.

Another monument is a defensive tower near the church, used as a bell tower, probably built contemporaneously with the church, thus in the 15th century; finally, dating from 1603, the Carmelite monastery and church in nearby Ssiadowice, also a foundation of the Herburtas.

During the Austro-Russian battles in the autumn of 1914, the Felštín church was in the line of battle and as a result suffered very heavy damage from cannon fire.

Thanks to the strenuous efforts of the zealous caretaker of the Felštín church, parish priest J. Watulewicz, author of the monograph "Herburtowie Felsztyńscy i kościół parafialny w Felsztynie", the church was reconstructed in 1915-1917, securing and saving what could still be saved.

In terms of historical monuments, however, a greater loss than the destruction of the church is the destruction of the so-called "Herburt Tower" - one of the monuments of medieval defensive architecture, monuments that are now a rarity in our country.

This quadrilateral building made of bricks and stones consisted of four storeys and was finished with an attic and castellation. The walls of the lower old storeys were plain, divided by the simplest of cornices; the first floor was decorated with modest arcades. The tower was originally purely defensive in nature and served as a final point of refuge during enemy attacks. A guard was always on guard at the top of the tower, keeping a watchful eye out for the glow of distant fires, an unmistakable sign of approaching Tartars, Turks or Cossacks. The lower tier was used as a shooting gallery, while the middle tiers provided shelter for the population.

Access to the tower was obstructed by artificial means of defence: ramparts with water-filled ditches and an entrance gate, closed by a drawbridge.

In former times, the bastion did not yet belong to the church, but to the Herburts, who ensured that the fortification was properly maintained. As the years passed and relations changed, the Herburtas' watchtower, so beautifully attuned to the church, was turned into a bell tower.

In 1808, the top part of the tower collapsed in a fire and remained completely deserted until 1863, when it was rebuilt at the expense of the church's then-keeper, Stanisław Katyński, while maintaining its former style and character. A clock was placed at the top of it, with the Herburts' eagle below.

Only the Great War put an end to its existence. During the fierce 27 days of fighting, which took place around Felštín in autumn 1914, the Russian army, considering the tower as strategically dangerous, blew it up on October 10, 1914. All that remains of this venerable reminder is the lower part, i.e. the entrance gate with its vault collapsed with debris and rubble.

The parish priest, Father Watulewicz, and his parishioners are carrying on with the idea of rebuilding the Herburt watchtower. Undoubtedly, it would be nice for them to see the tower rising near the church, to which they have become accustomed for so many years; - but even if it could be reconstructed with all accuracy on the basis of photographic images and measurements, it will always be no longer the august Herburt watchtower of several hundred years past.