The Castle Hill – had already been settled by the 5th century B.C. The fortified stronghold founded in the 9th century was raised to the rank of castellany sometime before 1155 and in 1290 became the capital of the independent Duchy of Cieszyn. A magnificent Gothic castle was built in the 14th century. The upper castle consisted of living quarters surrounded by a defensive wall with turrets and a tower. The castle chapel was located within the courtyard. The lower castle consisted of servants’ quarters, stores and outbuilding, dungeons, towers and a drawbridge. The Thirty Years’ War in 1618-1648 and the dying out of the Cieszyn Piast line in 1653 led to the fall of the Duchy’s seat. Cieszyn passed to the Habsburgs, who, in 1840, employed the architect Joseph Kornhäusel to rebuild the Castle Hill extensively in neoclassicist style. A summer Hunting Residence was built on the foundations of the lower castle while the rest of the grounds were transformed into a park. Only the Piast Tower and the Rotunda of St. Nicholas remain from the days of past splendour. In 1914 „man-made ruins” were built on the remains of the keep, which was recently reconstructed according to its original 13th-century form.