Ostrogski Castle

Warsaw · Poland · Palace

A princess enchanted into a golden duck swims on a lake beneath the castle cellars. She gives away gold on one impossible condition.

Beneath Ostrogski Castle on the escarpment at Okolnik, today the Chopin museum, Warsaw's most retold legend places an underground lake. On it swims the Golden Duck, a princess turned into a bird. The poor shoemaker Lutek went down into the vaults on midsummer night and was handed a hundred ducats on a single condition: every coin had to be spent on his own pleasure before the day was out, and not one given to anyone else. He got through ten before he met a crippled veteran of Napoleon's wars in the street and handed over the rest. The duck vanished with the treasure and has never shown herself since. Warsaw kept the story as a measuring stick for people, and a small sculpture of the duck sits in the pool beside the castle.

FAQ

Where is Ostrogski Castle located?

Ostrogski Castle is in Warszawa, Poland.

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Accounts are drawn from local folklore and visitor reports.