Baszta Jacek, Gdańsk

Baszta Jacek is Gdańsk’s tallest medieval defensive tower, built around fourteen hundred at the former northwestern corner of the Main Town walls. At thirty-six metres including its weather vane, the brick structure feels less like a lookout than a compact fortress. Its masonry changes from two and a half metres thick at ground level to one point two metres higher up.

Notice the steep tent roof: the tower’s roof was added in fifteen fifty-six, after its defensive role had ended. Beneath the eaves, brick arches resting on stone brackets conceal machicolations, a narrow projecting passage around the tower. Openings in its floor let defenders strike attackers gathered at the base.

A vaulted cellar beneath the tower stored food for the garrison. In nineteen forty-five, the roof and upper masonry were damaged and the interior burned out. Work completed by nineteen fifty-five restored the appearance preserved in older images.

Since nineteen sixty-two, a photographic workshop has occupied the interior. The name Baszta Jacek was assigned after the war in honor of Saint Hyacinth Odrowąż, whose actions brought the Dominican order to Gdańsk in twelve twenty-seven.