Tenczyn Castle The Tenczyn Castle , otherwise known as the " Tęczyn Castle " , is a medieval castle in the village of Rudno , Poland . It was built as a seat of the powerful Tęczyński family . The castle fell into ruin during the Deluge in mid - 17th century , after being pillaged and burned by Swedish - Brandenburgian forces looking for the Polish Crown Jewels and rumored treasures of the Tęczyński family . Subsequently rebuilt , after a fire in the mid - 18th century it again fell into disrepair and remains in that state to this day . History . The name of the castle comes from the name of the daughter of Tynek Starża . According to the legend , he arrived here in the 9th century , founded Tyniec and built a castle for his daughter Tęcza ( Rainbow ) . The first mention of the stronghold is dated 24 September 1308 , when king Władysław I the Elbow - high , who was hunting in the woods " in Thanczin " , issued a diploma to the Cistercian monastery in Sulejów . It is believed that the first wooden structure was erected around 1319 by Jan Nawój of Morawica , Castellan of Cracow . He also built the largest of the castle towers , called today the " Nawojowa tower " . The medieval castle included three additional round Gothic towers . Further expansion was carried out by Jan ' s son Jędrzej , governor of Cracow and Sandomierz . He erected the north - east part of the structure , where he lived , dying there in 1368 ; he is also known as the first to take the name Tęczyński . Jędrzej ' s son Jasko renewed and significantly expanded the castle , and founded a chapel . The first recorded mention relating directly to the castle dates from this period . The king Władysław Jagiełło imprisoned some important Teutonic prisoners , captured during the Battle of Grunwald , in the castle . To commemorate this event one of the castle ' s turrets was called " Grunwaldzka " . Within a short period of time the Tęczyński family rose to a great importance in Poland , holding 45 estates , of which 15 were near the castle . Around the middle of the sixteenth century , the castle was frequented by Mikołaj Rej , Jan Kochanowski , Piotr Kochanowski and other important figures of the Polish Renaissance . According to Bartosz Paprocki , in 1570 Jan Tęczyński , Castellan of Wojnicz " at great cost built a new castle in Tęczyn " . The new mannerist structure had three wings with a central courtyard open to the west and adorned with Renaissance attics , cornice s and arcades . It was also surrounded by a curtain wall on the north , strengthened with a bastion entry ( barbican ) . Two pentagonal bastions were erected on the south . After the reconstruction the castle took the shape of an irregular polygon , measuring over 140 meters from east to west , and 130 meters from north to south . Italian gardens and vineyards stretched out below the castle . The last big expenditure on the castle was a thorough reconstruction of the castle chapel , completed in the early 17th century by Agnieszka Firlejowa née Tęczyńska . In 1637 Jan Magnus Tęczyński , the last representative of the family , died in the castle . His only daughter Izabela married Łukasz Opalinski . In 1655 , during the Deluge , the rumor was spread that Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski , Grand Marshal of the Crown had hidden the Polish Crown Jewels in Tenczyn Castle . The Swedish - Brandenburgian forces led by Kurt Christoph von Königsmarck captured the castle against a defence led by captain Jan Dziula and slaughtered all of its defenders . When they did not find treasure they left the fortress and burned it in July 1656 . After the Deluge the castle was for the most part rebuilt and partially inhabited . At the beginning of the 18th century the Tenczyn estates passed to Adam Mikołaj Sieniawski , later to Prince August Aleksander Czartoryski who had married with Sieniawski ' s only daughter Maria Zofia , eventually passing to his daughter Izabela Lubomirska . After the fire in 1768 the structure increasingly fell into disrepair . In 1783 , the remains of Jan Magnus Tęczyński were moved from the castle chapel to a new tomb in St . Catherine ' s Church in Tenczynek . In 1816 , the castle became the property of the Potocki family and remained in their hands until the outbreak of World War II in 1939 . Plan of the castle . Hypothetical reconstruction of the castle layout according to Władysław Łuszczkiewicz , Nikodem Pajzderski , Stanisław Polaczek , Bohdan Guerquin , Marian Kornecki , Teresa Małkowska - Holcerowa and Janusz Kurtyka . Presumed identification of the premises based on the division acts from 1553 and 1733 and a drawing by Erik Dahlbergh of 1655 :