{"id":121039,"date":"2023-11-19T13:16:34","date_gmt":"2023-11-19T13:16:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/11\/19\/stobnica-castle-polands-controversial-modern-day-medieval-castle\/"},"modified":"2023-11-19T13:16:34","modified_gmt":"2023-11-19T13:16:34","slug":"stobnica-castle-polands-controversial-modern-day-medieval-castle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/11\/19\/stobnica-castle-polands-controversial-modern-day-medieval-castle\/","title":{"rendered":"Stobnica Castle \u2013 Poland\u2019s Controversial Modern-Day Medieval Castle"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\">\n                <\/aside>\n<p>Western Poland\u2019s Notecka Forest is home to one of the country\u2019s most controversial buildings, a medieval-style complex known as Stobnica Castle.<\/p>\n<p>The construction of Stobnica Castle began in 2015, but it didn\u2019t start attracting nationwide attention until 2018, when people started wondering what this gargantuan structure rising up at the edge of a well-known nature reserve, on what looked like a man-made island on Lake Stobnica, was. Aerial photos of a 15-storey medieval-like castle rising up in the middle of a pristine natural paradise about 50 km from the city of Poznan started going viral online and piqued people\u2019s curiosity. What was this building, who was the owner and how had they obtained a building permit for it, considering its location at the edge of a Special Protection Area for Birds (20 species) within the Natura 2000 network?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Photo: <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Zamek_w_Stobnicy_-_elewacja_po%C5%82udniowa.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Archsz\/Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s been over five years since Stobnica Castle first started making news headlines in Poland, and although it has been at the center of multiple court battles and Government official sackings, the mystery surrounding the medieval-style structure persists. For years, no one really knew who the owner of Stobnica Castle was. Some suspected it was the project of billionaire Jan Kulczyk, who died in 2015 but whom some conspiracy theorists believe faked his own death, while some more cent sources claim it belongs to doctor and businessman Pawel N. The funds for the construction have also sparked controversy, with some news sources claiming that they originated from offshore accounts.<\/p>\n<p>The purpose of the building is currently being disputed as well. While the developer\u2019s attorneys insist that Stobnica Castle will be their client\u2019s personal residence, there has long been speculation that it will either be transformed into a luxury hotel, or transformed into a residential complex for the rich and powerful. Many people are finding it hard to believe that anyone, no matter how rich they are, would spend 40 0 million zloti ($91 million) on a personal residence.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: none; overflow: hidden;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FPolandaesthetics%2Fposts%2Fpfbid02Wvpdp3bggvCxpKCAN2nUsmDHSvTzDitoRuDdMFTBVC8mHzjvHEoMLzUkGASjH2C8l&amp;width=750&amp;show_text=false&amp;appId=279842835470946&amp;height=497\" width=\"750\" height=\"497\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>When photos of the gigantic Stobnica Castle first went viral in 2018, they sparked massive outrage among environmental activists and the general public. in the years that followed, investigators gathered evidence about how the building permits had been obtained, and whether the developer could actually build so close to a natural reserve, while also building an artificial island on Lake Stobnica.<\/p>\n<p>In July 2020, the District Prosecutor\u2019s Office in Pozna\u0144 accused 6 people, including representatives of the investor, an architect, and local officials. That same year, the provincial governor was removed from office. In early 2021, the Central Anti-corruption Bureau initiated another investigation: suspicion of financing investments from money laundering (transfers from Cyprus offshore accounts).<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: none; overflow: hidden;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fthegentlemansjournal%2Fphotos%2Fa.462515327094796%2F5689934884352788%2F%3Ftype%3D3&amp;width=750&amp;show_text=false&amp;appId=279842835470946&amp;height=497\" width=\"750\" height=\"497\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In August 2021, the Chief Inspector of Construction Supervision (GINB) annulled the building permit for Stobnica Castle, but the decision was immediately appealed by the developers, and construction has been continuing ever since. recent photos and aerial footage show that the exterior of the medieval-style complex is nearly completed, including a 90-meter-tall tower rising up from its center.<\/p>\n<p>Sources close to the project estimate that Stobnica Castle will be completed around 2025, while others speculate that it might end up being demolished by the state, because of its controversial location, at the edge of a protected nature reserve. The only sure thing is that its fate is currently up in the air.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><div class=\"youtube-embed\" data-video_id=\"PqEn9X4Itvk\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Castle in Poland | Drone\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/PqEn9X4Itvk?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/p>\n<p>For more modern-day castles, check out <a href=\"https:\/\/www.odditycentral.com\/travel\/russian-businessman-builds-fairytale-castle-in-the-middle-of-a-lake.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Russia\u2019s Chateau Erken<\/a> and the fairytale-like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.odditycentral.com\/travel\/this-fairytale-castle-is-actually-a-four-star-hotel-in-china.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jilongbao Resort<\/a>.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\">\n                <\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<p><script type=\"5d29d059eccfc618e64344ab-text\/javascript\">(function(d, s, id) {\n  var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];\n  if (d.getElementById(id)) return;\n  js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;\n  js.src = \"\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.4&appId=665932603465761\";\n  fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);\n}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));<\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Western Poland\u2019s Notecka Forest is home to one of the country\u2019s most controversial buildings, a medieval-style complex known as Stobnica Castle. The construction of Stobnica Castle began in 2015, but it didn\u2019t start attracting nationwide attention until 2018, when people started wondering what this gargantuan structure rising up at the edge of a well-known nature [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":121040,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-121039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-odd-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Stobnica Castle \u2013 Poland\u2019s Controversial Modern-Day Medieval Castle - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/11\/19\/stobnica-castle-polands-controversial-modern-day-medieval-castle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Stobnica Castle \u2013 Poland\u2019s Controversial Modern-Day Medieval Castle - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Western Poland\u2019s Notecka Forest is home to one of the country\u2019s most controversial buildings, a medieval-style complex known as Stobnica Castle. 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