Maiden Tower

Built probably around the year 1462, the Maiden Tower, also known as the Seven Cloaks Tower, is one of the landmarks and symbols of Szczecin.

The Tower of the Seven Coats, also known as the Maiden Tower, is the only tower preserved from the town fortifications. The monument was probably erected before 1462 as a two-story building. At the beginning of the 19th century, the building was not demolished like the other towers, but adapted as utility rooms. After 1850, at the top of the tower, living quarters were added and the tower became an outbuilding of the building at 910 Frauenstraße. The tower survived in this form until 1944, until the Allied bombing. The remains of the ruins of the buildings around the tower were pulled down in 1956, thus revealing the walls of the tower. In the mid-1960s, reconstruction and reconstruction of the damaged parts of the tower were undertaken.

There are two legends associated with the Maiden Tower that explain the name of the monument. The first tells about a wealthy prince who had seven daughters. He wanted to spend each of them for equally wealthy men. Unfortunately, every daughter fell in love with a poor knight. The father decided to teach his disobedient daughters a lesson and ordered them to be locked in the tower until they were wise. As a sign of objection, they had to sew black coats that they wore day and night. Months passed, then years, one day it was noticed that the food that was being inserted through the crack in the wall was not taken away.  The frightened prince ordered the walls of the tower to be torn open, when it turned out that no one was inside. Except for the hanging coats. From now on, the tower is called the Tower of the Seven Cloaks, or the Maiden Tower, and what happened to the unhappily enamored daughters of a wealthy prince? Nobody knows to this day.

The second legend tells about the court tailor of prince Bogusław X. The prince, going on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, ordered seven coats to be sewn from a very rare and expensive material. The tailor did as instructed, but he carved the coats so cleverly that he had a few scraps of cloth left. The case came to light when the prince saw a woman in the street in a dress made of the same material as his coats. It quickly turned out to be the tailor's wife. As a punishment, the dishonest craftsman was locked in the tower, which from then on bears the names mentioned above.

Two legends, unfortunately, most likely miss the real source of the name of the tower. According to historians, it was the tailors' guild that funded the construction of the facility, and they were also supposed to defend it in the event of a siege.

The Tower of Seven Coats was entered on the provincial list of monuments in June 1954.