An island in Lake Lednika which is one of the most important medieval sites in Poland. Excavations began in the mid-19th century and established that the earliest 9th-century settlement lay within natural defences, but that in the early 10th century the site was fortified by a 10-metre high rampart. This rampart had an interesting construction, consisting of a series of boxes formed by horizontal planks bonded internally with clay. In the third phase, at the end of the 10th century, the fort was levelled to make way for the grandiose citadel which was one of the official residences of the Polish rulers. The official secular and religious buildings inside the stronghold consisted of a stone-built palace with an inner courtyard. It had an upper storey and gallery and dome carried on four columns. The chapel had a cross plan reminiscent of Byzantine churches of this date. The wooden dwellings and workshops were concentrated outside the main centre. Archaeologists claim to have found dramatic evidence of the 1 lth-century Kievan attacks on Ostrow Ledniki. One timber bridgehead, for example, was burnt, and in the lake muds were found the carbonized remains of a bridge, dug-out boats, and skeletons of men and horses with helmets, swords and other military equipment.
The Macmillan dictionary of archaeology, Ruth D. Whitehouse, 1983Copied