Editing Malbork (section)

==History of the castle==
{{Main|Malbork Castle}}
[[File:Zamek krzyżacki - Malbork.jpg|left|thumb|[[Malbork Castle]] viewed over the Nogat River]]
The town was built in [[Prussia (region)|Prussia]] around the [[fortress]] [[Ordensburg Marienburg]], which was founded in 1274 on the east bank of the river [[Nogat]] by the [[Teutonic Knights]]. Both the castle and the town (named Marienburg in German and Malborg or Malbork in Polish) were named for their patron saint, the [[Virgin Mary]]. This fortified [[castle]] became the seat of the Teutonic Order and [[Europe]]'s largest [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] fortress. During the [[Thirteen Years' War (1454–66)|Thirteen Years' War]], the castle of Marienburg was pawned by the Teutonic Order to their soldiers from [[Kingdom of Bohemia|Bohemia]]. They sold the castle in 1457 to King [[Casimir IV Jagiellon|Casimir IV]] of [[Crown of the Kingdom of Poland|Poland]] in lieu of [[Malbork treaty|indemnities]].<ref name="segfozhek184">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/historyprussiat01wyatgoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/historyprussiat01wyatgoog/page/n193 184]|quote=Bartholomäus Blume.|title=The history of Prussia: tracing the origin and development of her military organization|first=Walter James|last=Wyatt|date=3 March 1876|access-date=3 March 2018|via=Internet Archive}}</ref><ref name=mw>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fnzEpTR4ApIC&dq=Bartholom%C3%A4us+Blume&pg=PA193|title=Preussen in Ostmitteleuropa: Geschehensgeschichte und Verstehensgeschichte|first=Matthias|last=Weber|date=3 March 2018|publisher=Oldenbourg|isbn=9783486567182|access-date=3 March 2018|via=Google Books}}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> From 1457 to 1772 the castle was one of Poland's royal residences.<ref>Zygmunt Gloger, ''Geografia historyczna ziem dawnej Polski'', Spółka Wydawnicza Polska, Kraków 1903, p. 156</ref> Polish kings often stayed in the castle, especially when travelling to the nearby city of [[Gdańsk]]. Also, astronomer [[Nicolaus Copernicus]] visited the castle.<ref name=VM/> From 1568 the castle also housed the Polish Admiralty (''Komisja Morska'') and in 1584 one of the Polish Royal Mints was established here. The largest arsenal of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] was located in the castle.

Under continuous construction for nearly 230 years, the castle complex is actually three castles combined in one. A classic example of a medieval fortress, it is the world's largest brick castle and one of the most impressive of its kind in Europe. The castle was in the process of being restored by the Germans when [[World War II]] broke out. During the war, the castle was over 50% destroyed. Restoration has been ongoing since the war. The castle and its museum are listed as one of [[UNESCO]]'s [[World Heritage Sites]].