The legend of the castle in Niedzica is an amazing story interwoven with facts, full of twists and amazing events. Where did the descendants of the last Inca ruler come from in a small village? Was there a treasure hidden in the Dunajec Castle, on which the Spanish conquistadors wanted to put their hands? What became the descendants of the ruler Tupac, and why is the castle haunted by the White Lady?
Sebastian was a man who couldn't sit still. His desire to explore the world and discover unknown places became his life passion. Wandering through Europe, he finally came to Venice, which, due to many sea routes, was the proverbial window to the world.
Whether Sebastian hesitated when he was climbing the wooden gangplank onto the deck of a sailing ship sailing to the other end of the world, I cannot tell you. One thing is certain when the ship left the shore and set a course for Nowy Świat, goosebumps probably appeared on its hands.
A long voyage lasting many months was successful. Sebastian Berzeviczy, with great relief, stood on the sandy shore and looked around.
- So this is the land that, according to the assurances of Spanish sailors, is surrounded by gold. - He thought, looking at the hills drowning in green. Probably at this point, our hero had no idea what treasures he would find in Peru.
It is not known how it happened (there are no records from that period of Sebastian's life), but months later Sebastian married Umina. Was it his oriental appearance for the natives, or perhaps the gleam in the eye of the adventurer caused him to embrace a beautiful Inca princess, descended in a straight line from Atahualpa himself.
Perhaps you know this ruler. It was he who had the misfortune to meet Pizarro, who, obsessed with a lust for inexhaustible riches, ordered Atahualpa to fill a large room with gold, and the next two with silver, which he did scrupulously.
Sebastian's relationship with Umina resulted in the emergence of a girl in the world in 1762. She was given the same name as her mother, Umina. The happy parents looked with great joy at their children running around the yard. Years passed, and finally, Sebastian's daughter was old enough to look at the bachelor, blushing slightly on her cheeks.
There were many competitors, hoping to receive a juicy kiss from Umina, but there could be only one winner. It was Jose Gabriel Tupac Amaru
In 1780, the Incas, who had been oppressed for years, decided to oppose the Spanish invader. The uprising was led by Umina's husband, they take the name of Tupac Amaru II, in honor of their ancestor, the last ruler of the Inca Empire, Tupac Amaru, who fought fiercely with the Spaniards in a guerrilla war.
Unfortunately, like the previous Inca revolts, this one was also unsuccessful. Despite their initial successes, the Spaniards finally tipped the scales to their advantage. The surviving insurgents experienced a whole range of atrocities on the part of the invaders. They have been torn apart with horses, burned at the stake, and strangled with garroted families together with their families. The uprising collapsed.
Seeing what was happening, Sebastian Berzevicy, being an elderly man, decided to flee Peru. He left behind a lot, including the grave of his wife, who had passed away a few years earlier.
However, he did not set out on his journey overseas alone. He was accompanied by his pregnant daughter Umina, who, like her father, left memories and graves of her relatives behind her. Together with them, the most faithful set out on the journey of life, surviving noble warriors, who swore to protect the unborn child and the wife of their deceased ruler.
After many months of travel, the escapees reached the port in Venice, from which young Sebastian set off on his journey many years earlier.
Here was born Tupac Amaru III, who was christened Antoni. Not wanting to stay in a city full of Spanish spies who were constantly on their heels, Sebastian decided to set off with his family to the place where he was the only one in the world associated with a safe haven - Niedzica.
The castle in Niedzica initially seemed to be the perfect place to raise a grandson. The estates, away from the great worldly intrigues, ensured peace for its inhabitants. Antoni, a descendant of the Inca rulers, felt great here. He ran around the vast chambers of the castle and looked from the castle walls at the Dunajec flowing lazily in the distance. Everything indicated that the Spanish spies did not reach the Pieniny. They were wrong.
In 1797, on a warm June night, Umina was found dead next to the castle chapel. She was dealt a dozen blows with a dagger and left in a thickening pool of blood. It is not known who committed this macabre murder, but rumors circulated that it was the work of a Spanish assassin, whose task was to obtain information about the treasure that the refugees brought to Niedzica.
Desperate Sebastian, wanting to save what was most precious to him, hastily packed the most necessary things and set off, with his grief-stricken grandson Antoni, to Moravian Krumlov near Brno.
There Antoni hugged his grandfather for the last time and, looking back several times, he crossed the walls of the church in the company of his new guardian - Wacław Benesz, Sebastian's cousin. It was June 21, 1797, as evidenced by the adoption act of Antoni in Niedzica.
Years later, Antoni Benesz (Berzevica), on his deathbed, was to confess that grandfather Sebastian and his mother Umina, when fleeing South America, actually took a huge treasure with them.
It was supposed to be Inca gold on which a powerful curse rested. It was this that was to be the cause of all the misfortunes that befell Antoni's family. Therefore, he warned his children who listened to their tales not to seek a bloody fortune under any circumstances.
They obeyed ... until ...
Many generations later, Andrzej Benesz entered the stage of our story. Antoni's descendants wanted to get what his ancestors had hidden. He was helped by his archaeological education and the fact that after the end of World War II, he actively participated in shaping the policy of the Polish state.
On July 31, 1946, Andrzej Benesz, accompanied by a befriended village administrator, came to the castle in Niedzica. He was very happy because, after many years of waiting, he finally got permission to start the search. After many failed attempts to find anything related to his family history, luck smiled at him.
Under the last step of the stairs of the first gate of the upper castle, he found a lead tube 8.5 cm long and 3 cm in diameter. From inside he pulled out a kipu - Inca knotwriting.
On three of the twelve strings with golden beads at the ends, there were the words - Dunajecz, Vigo, Titicaca.
Andrzej had no doubts, the letter indicated the place where the parceled treasure was hidden, some of which was supposed to be somewhere in the Pieniny Mountains.
The report on this discovery was written by Benesz, and all the witnesses signed next to him, i.e. the mayor Andrzej Pukański, WOP platoon leader Jan Kotowicz, forester Stanisław Gołąb, WOP privates Kazimierz Sitny and Jan Sobkówka, friends of Benesz Roman and Krystyna Alfawicki, Krystyna Benesz and Aleksander Bugayski, who also photographed this event. The further fate of this extremely interesting artifact is unknown.
It is not known whether it was possible to decode the kipu found by Andrzej Benesz
After this unusual discovery, Benesh believed in his heritage. For many years he was looking for a legendary treasure. He even received a permit to carry out exploration work at the nearby castle in Czorsztyn in 1976.
Whether he found something, unfortunately, it is not known. He died tragically the same year in a car accident near Kutno. It is said that he was struck by the curse of the Inca treasury, although it is more likely that his political opponents caught up with him. But that will remain a mystery forever.
Well, it was supposed to be about ghosts. Niedzica Castle is one of the most haunted places in this area. The stabbed Umina did not leave this world, as little souls are used to, but decided to stay at the place of her execution. To this day, you can meet her wandering around the castle courtyard and at the castle chapel, where she gave up her ghost.
Local residents claim that she remained in the earthly valley to guard the Inca treasure, which was the cause of all the misfortunes that befell her family. Is it really so? Who knows, maybe when you get too close to the place where the treasure is hidden, even unconsciously, you will have the opportunity to meet her angry little soul.
A FEW INTERESTS AT THE END
- The amount of gold and silver that Atahualpa gave to the Spaniards for his freedom is unimaginable. In one room, gold ornaments with a total weight of 6 tons were collected, and in the next 2, silver ornaments with a total weight of 11 tons.
- The accumulated riches did not help Atahualpa. Soon after the treasury was handed over, the Inca ruler was accused of non-cooperation, incest, polygamy, and pagan practices. The president of the court, Father Vincente Val Verde, sentenced him. At first, Atahualpa was ordered to be burned at the stake, but after he was baptized, the "gentler" method was used. The condemned man was strangled with a garrote.
- In 2003, Gloria Estevan recorded the song "Hoy", which recounted the fate of Tupac Amaru II and the prophecy that one day he would return and free the oppressed Incas.
- Kipu - is a form of three-dimensional record with the use of knots set at appropriate distances. To date, most of the copies have not been deciphered. Unfortunately, the Spaniards are to blame, who smoked everything they could get their hands on.
- Mr. Samochodzik was also looking for the Inca treasure in the book - Pan Samochodzik and the Inca Treasure.
- Tupac Amaru Shakur (2Pac), a popular American rapper who tragically died in 1996, was named after the Inca rulers.
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