Esterki Barrow

According to legend, circulated among the Krakowites, the Esterka barrow was built in the 14th century by the Polish king Casimir III the Great in honor of his beloved of Jewish descent named Esterka . There is another version of the legend, according to which this mound was the place of its burial.

According to some Polish scholars, the mound was used as a fortification or astronomical observation. Professor Vladislav Gural put forward a hypothesis according to which the mounds of Esterka, Krak , Krak II and Wanda were used by the Celts in the II – I centuries BC for astronomical observations necessary to calculate their pagan holidays ^[1] .

Stefan Batory set up a park around the mound, designed by Italian architect Santi Gucci. This park surrounded the Royal Palace. According to the chronicle of 1786, the Polish king Stanislav Augustus Poniatowski , visiting Krakow for the first time, ordered to investigate the mound. The following archaeological research was carried out in the second half of the 20th century. No human remains were found during these excavations.

The mound was destroyed in the 50s of the 20th century. During the construction of the Wawel Kraków Sports Club. According to other opinions, it was destroyed even earlier - in 1947 during the construction of military barracks.

Several lithographs of old Krakow have been preserved, which help to estimate the height of the mound at 5 - 7 meters. Esterka’s mound was also indicated on the topographic map “ Planie miasta Krakowa z przedmieściami ”, which was compiled under the direction of Hugo Kollontai . Today this map is known under the code name “ Plan Kołłątajowski ” (“ Kollontai Plan ”).

• Piotr Banasik: Ślady historii. "Geodeta" nr 10 (173), październik 2009.