Description of the attraction
On Targa Rybny, which continues the Long Embankment, you can see Bashtu Labendz (or in Russian - "Swan"), installed on the banks of the Moltava in the distant 15th century. In its place previously stood the Fisherman's Bastion, which was considered part of the castle of the Teutonic Knights. This bastion was used to control the city's port. It was destroyed by the townspeople themselves in 1454, when Gdansk was freed from the rule of the Teutonic Order. After that, a brick tower was built on the site of the bastion, topped with a conical roof, the tiles of which were made of ceramic plates. The tower turned out to be impressive - several meters higher than the former bastion.
A fragment of a 14th-century defensive structure has been perfectly preserved just behind the tower. The Swan Tower was also part of the medieval fortifications of the city of Gdansk. It was used to observe the surroundings, guards were constantly on duty on it, whose duties included observing the city blocks and making noise in the event of a fire.
When the tower lost its defensive significance, the area around it began to rapidly build up. Stone houses surrounded the tower in a dense ring, and against their background it no longer seemed so majestic and solid.
During the hostilities of the Second World War, the Swan Tower was badly damaged, but it was restored in 1967. At the moment, this building houses the headquarters of the Marine Club. In 2010, next to the tower appeared the fashionable hotel "Hilton", which offers its guests rooms "with a view of the historic Swan Tower."
