Kaszana Tower in Trzebiatów

The Kaszana Tower (Baszta Kaszana, the Porridge Tower) is a cylindrical brick tower 21 metres high, part of the defensive walls of Trzebiatów. It was built in the 14th century in a corner of the town's fortifications, on the side of the Rega River. According to the Wikipedia entry, it has been open to visitors during the summer holiday season. It owes its name to the legend of a bowl of hot porridge.

A tower in the corner of the walls

The tower was built in the first half of the 14th century to strengthen the defences in the corner of the walls and to serve as an observation point over the Rega. The monument is also described under the name Gunpowder Tower, because gunpowder was later stored in it. In the 15th century it was raised, and at the beginning of the 19th century it was rebuilt and given a new roof. The heritage register lists it as a brick tower from the end of the 13th century (no. 199 of 1957).

How the tower is built

The tower has a diameter of 5.6 metres and is covered with a conical roof. On the ground floor there is a prison dungeon 4.7 metres high with a new rectangular entrance on the town side. The original entrance was placed on the second storey in a rectangular niche, and was reached by a passage from the defensive gallery on the wall to the east.

On the second and third storeys, irregularly placed slit-like arrow loops can be seen from outside. Below the top there are corbels that supported the former watch platform, visible in Lubinus's engraving. The whole was originally crowned with a small turret with a brick cone. In the 19th century a wicket gate was cut next to the tower, with a lintel resting against its wall. The reconstruction of 1994 covered a new roof, stairs and floors.

The legend of the porridge

The name comes from a legend according to which, in the 15th century, a guard watching the walls at night dropped a bowl of hot porridge from the tower. The porridge fell on the head of one of the men from Gryfice preparing to storm Trzebiatów, and the accident was said to have saved the town from a treacherous attack. This is only a legend, not a documented fact. Because of it, a festival called the Porridge Festival (Święto Kaszy) is held in summer, and the organisers provide details.

Practical information

• Address: Wąska Street, Trzebiatów, in the former line of the town walls above the Rega.
• The tower is open to visitors in the summer holiday season. The monument is looked after by the Historic Trzebiatów Chąśba Association, so check dates and hours with the association or at the tourist information office.
• Nearby stand the Town Hall and St John's Church, and the general picture of the medieval town is shown by the urban layout of Trzebiatów.