The Modlin Fortress

The Modlin Fortress is a European-wide unique complex of fortified buildings and structures showing a cross-section of the European fortification architecture of the 19th century (bastion) and the beginning of the 20th century (scattered fort). The concept of the construction was put forward by Napoleon Bonaparte, who ordered a design of a semi-oval fortress with five bastions opened from the side of the river in 1806. The fortress was meant to be located on a high northern bank at the mouth of the Narew and the Vistula.

The construction work took as short as 3 years but only a year later further improvements were initiated (the following crown-shaped fortifications were built: Modlińska, Utracka and Central Crown).

Year 1813 was the first time when the fortress was verified in military actions. The Russian troops unsuccessfully attempted to seize the fortress for 10 months.

Between the years 1814 and 1831, the fortress was occupied by Russian and Polish garrisons. Upon the outbreak of the November Uprising (as soon as December 1830), it was captured by the insurgents and thanks to considerable provisions of gunpowder and ammunition they managed to survive until the manufacture of the war goods was restarted. Towards the end of the uprising, the fortress performed another very important function, namely it covered the Polish troops retreating in direction of lands under Prussian rule. The price paid for the fortress actively participating in the uprising was the change of its name to “Novogeorgiyevsk Fortress.”

After the end of the war, the fortress was expanded significantly according to Ivan Dehn’s and Aleksander Feldman’s designs aided by engineers of Polish descent. During the expansion, the second outer rim of defences was added and four gateways as well as one defence gate were incorporated in the existing rim. Also, polygon-shaped military barracks of unbroken line contour with the length of 2250 metres and capacity of up to 20 thousand soldiers were built as a part of the project.

Technological progress which made it possible to destroy the existing fortifications as well as a shift in the distribution of political and military powers in Europe, forced the Russians to modernise the fortifications. The expansion plans of 1874 included eight defence outworks called forts enclosing the old fortress with a 24.5 km long ring with a diameter of 12 km. The forts were to be located at the foreground of the fortress on a circle-shaped plan, about 4 to 6 km away from the outer rim of defences. The works were delayed until 1883 because of the outbreak of war with Turkey and financial difficulties; however, the plan was fully completed in just five years. The newly-built fortifications had numerous advantages; firstly, they moved back the possible defence line all the way to the fortress foreground and secondly, they allowed for a control and, if necessary, blockade of all crucial communication routes around the fortress.

Next expansion plans appeared in 1911 and, except for modernisation of the existing buildings and structures, included another ring of forts, this time 10-11 km away from the old rim of defences. The works started in 1912 and were also continued after the outbreak of World War I until 1915 when the German troops surrounded the fortress. Before the seizure, it was expanded by 10 concrete forts with 3 fort groups and 9 intermediate outworks. This enormous line of fortifications surrounded the old fortress with a second ring of forts 50 km long and 24 km of diameter closing approximately 150 m2 of land inside.

The warfare approached the fortress in July 1915 while it was preparing frantically for defence. On July 17th a car with the chief engineer of the fortress – Colonel Korotkiewicz, was shelled by a German patrol while it was coming back from the tour around the northern sector. The accompanying commander of the northern sector and the engineer himself were killed and the Russian plans of defence fell into the hands of the Germans.

At the beginning of August the Germans surrounded the fortress isolating it from the field army and after a week of intense fighting they captured the fortress. The capitulation document was signed by the fortress and defence commanding officer – General Nikolay Bobyr on August 20th in Zegrzynk. Nearly 90 thousand Russian soldiers are taken captive and the Germans seize all the war goods gathered by the Russians. This was the end of the 102-year Russian rule in the Modlin Fortress.

The first commanding officer of the fortress appointed after Poland regained its independence was Colonel Edward Malewicz. In the summer of 1920, the independence was in a serious danger again. As an obstacle for the Russian troops marching towards Warsaw, the fortress became the centre of warfare. Colonel Malewicz’s task was to organise defence line at the foreground of the fortress using the outer forts. Fierce fighting took place on August 13th and 14th, especially in the area of fort group “Gosławice”, where the Russians managed to capture one of the forts for a few hours. During that time, Modlin served as a back-up and a supply base for the troops. Thanks to successful counteroffensive actions, the fortress was no longer in danger and after the battle of Warsaw, the surrounding forts became the place of detention for the Russian captives.

The twenty years of independence after the first world war was the time of military garrison development and of repairing the war damages. There were numerous actions undertaken such as repairing and rebuilding works of the barracks, construction of “the Narew” power station and a new housing estate for the staff. Also, the shipyard of the Państwowe Zakłady Inżynierskie (State Engineering Industrial Plant), which functioned as a principal port of the Polish Navy, experienced a moment of prosperity.

First of all however, the fortress was a place of blooming military life. It was a station to the command of 8th Infantry Division together with one of its regiments, 1 sapper regiment, 1 heavy artillery regiment and a motor battalion. Except for these units, the fortress was the seat of the Military District Court, Fortification Directorate, Military Police Post and a Branch of the Central Military Storehouse.

Back then, the fortress had military education traditions. From 1919 until 1926 Cadet Corps no. 2 educated young boys in the spirit of patriotism. A bit later, until 1939 educational initiative was continued by the Centre of Armoured Weapons Training and the Centre of Sapper Training.

After the outbreak of the World War II, during the first days of September 1939, Modlin became the centre of the 8th Infantry Division reserves formation, which joined the Modlin Army fighting in the region of Mława. Unfortunately, divisions fighting around Mława had to retreat in direction of Warsaw, because of their failure in the border battle. At the same time, the fortress was preparing for defence. Having a few infantry battalions at his disposal, the defence commander – Colonel Wacław Młodzianowski, prepared a defence line from the north, located in the old forts stretching from Zakroczym to Pomiechówek. After returning from Mława, the 8th Infantry Division defended fortress from the east and the south - the side of Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki and Kazuń.

During the night of September 13th and 14th, a part of “Łódź” Army under command of Brigadier General Wiktor Thomme, namely combat unit “Piotrków”, marched through the Kampinos Forest in direction of Modlin. Marshal Rydz-Śmigły appointed him as defence commander of the Modlin Fortified Camp with the order to engage as much of the German troops as possible in order to decrease the number of soldiers who might have been used in the struggle for Warsaw. Not being able to use relatively modern forts from the beginning of the 20th c. due to the lack of soldiers (his unit included 20 thousand soldiers), General Thomme organised defence around the old forts of the first ring.

The commanding officers experienced major problems connected with the supply of ammunition from the Ammunition Storehouse in Palmiry and with dealing with the wounded, because the medical facilities were scarce. The situation became even more critical when the Germans captured Palmiry on September 22nd and the supply of ammunition ceased. Despite the situation, the persistent attempts of the Germans to seize the fortress turned out unsuccessful.

Fierce fighting continued between September 11th and 29th with the casualties on the Polish part totalling to 2 thousand killed and 5 thousand wounded in action. Nevertheless, the mission was accomplished – for 18 days of fighting in Modlin, Wehrmacht used 70 thousand of its soldiers, 800 cannons and 80 tanks and a considerable number of airplanes (the biggest bombing raid involved 109 airplanes). These forces were excluded from the combat in Warsaw.

When Warsaw surrendered and the fortress was short of almost everything, there was no point in further resistance. For this reason and bearing in mind the best interest of his soldiers, General Thomme decided to honourably surrender the fortress. The official capitulation was signed on September 29th on the road from Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki to Jabłonna near Sochocin. On the same day, defenders of fort no. I in Zakroczym became the objects of war crime by the Germans marching into the fortress. As a revenge for persistent defence and a significant number of casualties on the German side, 500 soldiers and 100 civilians were shot after being taken captive in the fortress moat.

After occupying Poland, the Germans incorporated some of the land into the Reich and the rest formed the so called General-Gouvernement divided into districts. The Modlin Fortress became the part of the Reich. In 1940, the existing barracks were used for organisation of a training centre for new Wehrmacht recruits, who were sent to the front (usually the one in the East) after undergoing the training. Furthermore, the fortress served as a supply base for the troops fighting in the East, convalescents’ meeting point and especially in 1944 when the front was coming closer to the fortress foreground - a station of various military units.

Fort no. III became witness to tragic events that took place in Pomiechówek during the war. It was there that the Germans murdered a few dozen thousand people, first in a Jewish ghetto and after exterminating the Jews – in a camp arranged in the fort.

The fortress and the local people were liberated on January 18th 1945 by the units of 47th Military Corps commanded by General Major Dimitriy Kiscylin, which were part of 70th General Military Army of the 2nd Byelorussian Front.

After the war, the Modlin garrison hosted numerous military units and various types of repair shops were located within its area. Military education tradition in Modlin was continued by Armoured Weapons Military Academy (moved to Poznań in 1947). Air force traditions in Modlin date back to 1946, when the first pilots who were commissioned as officers started to perfect their skills in the Modlin airfield. In 1958, Higher School of Pilots was founded and two years later renamed Air Training Centre. It is also here that the archives of the Ministry of National Defence and Air Forces found their place.

The last years of the 20th c. were also the last years of the military garrison in the Modlin Fortress. As a part of restructuring plan of the Polish Armed Forces, the military units stationed in Modlin were either dissolved or moved to a different place.

At present, the huge barracks complex is deserted; administered by the Military Property Agency (AMW) it is waiting, hopefully, to return to the times of glory which are evidence of the Polish and European history and the history of the fortress itself.

FORTRESS STRUCTURES

DEFENCE BARRACKS

The longest structure in Europe of 2250 metres. It was erected during the fortress expansion between the years 1832 – 1841 (completed in 1844). The shape of the structure – a stretched hexagon – was imposed by the fact that according to plans it was meant to fit inside the original ramparts. It was 19.5 metres wide, 2- up to 4-storey high and included 800 rooms with the capacity of up to 20 thousand soldiers.

Three towers were built along the barracks line, two from the south, at the western end of the barracks – the “White Tower” and at the southern one – the “Red Tower” and the “Water Tower” in the northern part of the structure. The barracks axis was crossed by a corridor dividing it into two major parts, external one intended for military actions and the internal one intended for residential purposes. That is why the external walls, which could be affected by destructive shells, were 182 cm thick and the internal and partition ones less open to shelling – 120 cm thick. The front walls of the external part had special rifle ports both for guns and cannons. Additionally, caponiers which made firing along the walls possible, reinforced the structure. You could move between the barracks and the area outside through 8 gates, 4 of which are still used as gateways.

At present, this enormous polygon structure no longer performs the function that it was meant to perform. It is owned by the Military Property Agency and the barracks interiors may be visited only with a PTTK (Polish Tourist and Country-Lovers Society) tour guide. You are also permitted to stroll along the external part of the wall from the north side and along the Narew bank from the south part.

GRANARY

“The most impressive building erected in the second quarter of this century in the Congress Kingdom of Poland” – read the headlines of Warsaw newspapers in 1844, when a wheat granary built at the mouth of the Narew and the Vistula opposite the Modlin Fortress was ready for use.

The granary was designed by Jan Jakub Gay as a neo-Renaissance building in the shape of a stretched rectangle with a jutting central risalit. It was 165.5 metres long, 22 metres wide and 20 metres high (the central risalit was 26 metres high) and the cubic capacity of 83,000 m3. From the outside the granary looked like a four-storey building but in fact it had six wooden storeys and a ground level with a brick vault in the inside.

The monumental building comprised of two huge wings connected by the internal part, which was higher than the wings themselves (this may be observed from the side of the water and land). The northern wall of the granary situated at the Narew, was equipped with three decorative open gates, portals with cast steel steps and freight lift apparatus. The internal part from the land side had an impressive portal with arches ornamented with beautiful panoply bas-relief with antique motifs devoted to tsar Nicholas I of Russia.

The construction of the granary turned out expensive, it involved the amount exceeding 1 million silver roubles. Unfortunately, the granary did not generate projected profits and was therefore leased in the mid 50s of the 19th century. Later on, it was sold to the fortress garrison and was used as the main food storehouse.

The tragic events of September 1939 connected with defence actions around the Modlin Fortress made the granary fall into ruin. The wooden interiors of the granary were completely consumed by a three-day-long fire started by incendiary bombs dropped on the structure.

Despite the fact that the war left it in ruins, the granary situated picturesquely where the two rivers fork is still impressive. You can admire it from viewpoints located in the fortress. Visiting the land itself is permitted only with a PTTK tour guide.

GARRISON CLUB (OFFICER’S CASINO)

The building housing the club was erected at the beginning of the 20th c. and was meant for the commanders and officers. The neo-Gothic structure was built on a T-shaped plan. The front side had an arcade drive with a terrace and an attic resting on a cornice.

In the centre of a spacious hallway there are double stairs made of white marble leading to the first floor with unique wrought-iron banisters decorated with plant-like motifs and iron griffins. The first floor houses two rooms used for representative purposes: a cinema and theatre room and a ballroom, both opulently decorated with wall stucco. The cinema and theatre room has authentic crystal chandeliers with tsar crowns finials.

After putting it into use, the building was the most modern structure within the fortress. As the only one at that time it had its own lighting obtained through a generator and a unique heating system, in which hot steam instead of hot water was forced into the radiator. The system is in working order until nowadays.

As a building for representative purposes, it served as the fortress commanding officer’s main office, cultural centre used for balls, theatre shows, lectures, receiving important guests and finally as an off-duty place of entertainment for soldiers, who could meet their colleagues e.g. in the casino.

The casino room was the place of signing the preliminary capitulation of the Novogeorgiyevsk Fortress on August 19th 1915. In the period between the wars, the club received the most eminent representatives of the civil and military authorities of the 2nd Republic of Poland.

Owing to their unique character, the club interiors are very often used as sets by film makers and have “starred” in numerous productions, which became famous in Poland, such as the comedy “CK Dezerterzy”. At present, the building is available for visitors only with a PTTk tour guide.

NAPOLEON’S REDOUBT

The construction of the battery emplacement based on the existing Utrata Crown started during expanison of the Modlin Fortress in 1811. However, due to the fact that the Polish corps joined the Napoleon’s great army in his unfortunate expedition against the Russians in 1812, the works stopped and were never completed. For this reason, it did not play any military role during siege of the fortress in 1813, but instead performed the function of a shelter.

The subsequent works were undertaken not until the Russian rule between 1814 – 1815. The ground level rooms were used as food, ammunition and water storage for the garrison of over 300 soldiers. The external rooms belonged to the operational part, whose capacity was 20 cannons and additionally 12 cannons situated at the roofed terrace of the building.

Due to the fact that external walls were directly exposed to destructive gunfire, they were 1.5 up to 1.8 metre thick and the remaining internal and partition walls “just” 1.2 metre thick. The slightly slant and converging at the top external sides of the building were 41 metres long and the walls of the inner courtyard 18 metres long. The building was 11.5 metres wide and high.

The interesting fact about the building is that according to the eminent expert on the Napoleonic era, Waldemar Łysiak, the building was designed by Napoleon I himself, which – if there was enough evidence – would make it a world-wide rarity.

According to plans of the1970s and 1980s the building was going to be administered by a Branch of the Polish Armed Forces Museum but the project was never realised. At present, the redoubt is owned by the Military Property Agency and has been open to tourist groups and individual visitors.

FORTRESS CEMETARY

The L-shaped cemetery with the area of 6 hectares (2.5 acres) was situated in the foreground of the left semi-bastion of the Central Crown next to the road leading to Zakroczym. According to the information board located at the cemetery gate, its foundation is connected with the expansion of the Modlin Fortress in the 19th century. However, the information is incorrect, because the existence of the cemetery was neither evidenced by the maps of the fortress surroundings nor by documents from the 19th century.

It was marked for the first time on a German topographical map of the Modlin Fortress in 1915. Most probably, it was founded in connection with the fighting for the fortress in August 1915, which resulted in the unknown number of casualties among the soldiers who laid siege to the fortress. The casualties had to be enormous since a huge monument commemorating the German soldiers who lost their lives around the fortress was erected in 1916. After Poland regained its independence, between 1918 – 1929, the monument was pulled down and the cemetery levelled. Only a single gravestone made of silver-sandstone and a mass grave of the soldiers killed during the storming of fort XVI survived until today. A metal cross situated on part of the pedestal of the German monument and a plaque commemorate soldiers of all nationalities buried in this cemetery. The oldest graves of the Polish soldiers include 9 graves of legionnaires who served in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd infantry regiment of Legions which stayed in the fortress between 1916 and 1917 during the so called “oath crisis” (Kryzys przysięgowy). The warfare of August 1920 during Polish-Russian war which took place at the foreground of the fortress is commemorated by a section of 325 graves of Polish soldiers marked with concrete crosses showing names of the killed in action (there are also two graves of Russian soldiers and a grave of a French officer).

Also civilians were buried in the fortress cemetery, because between 1920 and 1939 it functioned as a parochial cemetery of the St. Barbara Parish.

The original grave of Colonel Edward Malewicz, the first commanding officer of the fortress in independent Poland, was replaced by a mausoleum situated in the heart of the cemetery.

Defence of the fortress in 1939 brought more casualties which consequently formed a new section at the cemetery made up from 119 nameless graves of the soldiers who died defending the fortress. During occupation period, the section was expanded, because the Germans used it for burying their soldiers. There were 2581 soldiers buried in the cemetery altogether.

After the liberation, the cemetery functioned as before the war, which may be evidenced by graves of pilots who died in the course of trainings and of civilians. Finally, the cemetery was closed in 1962 and neglected for a long time. It was not until the late 1990s that the Polish-German foundation “Pamięć” (Remembrance) decided to restore the cemetery and raise a monument in memory of the Polish soldiers killed in action between 1920 and 1939.

Today, the cemetery functions as a park. The locals and tourists like to spend their leisure time strolling across the park. A big parking lot has been designated in front of the gate, which always stays open.

GENERAL DEHN’S BATTERY EMPLACEMENT

An artillery tower was erected during the great expansion of the Fortress Modlin by the Russians in 1839. It was built from the north-western part of the internal rim of the fortress at the lofty foreground of bastion no. I.

The battery placement was built on a U-shaped plan as a three-storey structure with stretched and lowered two-storey wings with an inner courtyard closed by a decorative fence with two gates. The arrangement of rooms inside the battery emplacement is standard for battle and residential structures erected in the fortress at that time. The external rooms included tunnel-vaulted chambers protected by a 1.53 metres thick wall with a pair of artillery ports for cannons, a bit farther – a corridor and internal rooms functioning as the garrison residence. The remaining partition and internal walls as well as the ceiling were 1.2 metres thick. The ceiling was additionally reinforced by a thick layer of soil.

The tower accumulated a considerable portion of artillery fire by using as many as 52 artillery ports in the elevation of the second and third storey. When needed, the artillery positions could defend not only the way to bastion no. I but also possible breaks in the outer rim of the fortress, because the tower functioned as an inter-entrenchment, from which you could defend the area between the inner and the outer rim.

The tower was named after General Iwan Dehn, a military engineer, fortification expert, head of the Western District Engineering in the Russian army, general constructor of fortresses in the Kingdom of Poland. It was according to his plans that the Modlin Fortress was modernised and expanded between 1832 and 1841.

Presently, the battery placement is owned by “Park Militarny Twierdza Modlin” (Twierdza Modlin Military Park) foundation. It also houses a museum of the September Campaign of 1939, which may be entered upon admission.

THE TATAR (RED) TOWER

The Tower overlooks the western boundary of the southern part of the barracks. It was erected between the years 1832-1841 as the fortress was being built up by the Russians. Its colloquial name was coined in the period of the Partitions of Poland, when the Tower along with the adjacent part of the barracks were inhabited by Muslim Russian soldiers. In order to avoid ethnic or religious conflicts between the soldiers of different nationalities, the command of the garrison decided to adapt the Tower for a place of residence for Muslims, coming mainly form Caucasus. The soldiers inhabiting the remaining parts of the barracks used to called that place “Caucasian barracks” or “the Tatar tower”. Although there were merely a few Tatars among the soldiers residing in the tower, the name gained in popularity and has endured the test of time.

The outward appearance of the Tower may be misleading because the embrasures between the lower and upper terraces suggest the defensive role of the building. However, they served only as decorations, while the tower itself was used mainly for communication and observation.

On the upper terrace there was an optical telegraph used for communication with and the Warsaw Citadel, through which it was also possible to communicate with St. Petersburg. That was just what the communicative role of the Tower consisted in. The observation function could be performed thanks to a guard post, located on the upper terrace of the Tower, whose main task was to control the interior of the huge barracks and to inform the command about any alarming signals and violation of the rules committed by the soldiers inhabiting the area.

The tower is 29 m high from the basement to the upper terrace and 31.6 m high to the top. Apart from that, the southern wing of the barracks building was built on a 16-metre-high bank of the river Vistula and Narew, making the upper terrace of the tower overlook the water from the height of 45 m and at the same time provide for a beautiful view of the tower’s surroundings.

The tower is currently a property of the Polish Military Housing Agency (Wojskowa Agencja Mieszkaniowa). Visiting the tower is possible after buying the ticket (PLN 3.00) only in the company of an authorised PTTK guide.

THE WHITE TOWER

Unlike the Red Tower, this one has been plastered and this explains where its popular name comes from. Built between the years 1832 - 1844 on the eastern boundary of the southern wing of the barracks, it is located 950 m away from the Red Tower and overlooks the river from the height of 45 meters.

The Tower served defensive and control functions. However, it was not used for observing what was happening outside the barracks; the observation post on the tower was supposed to control the interior of the barracks’ courtyard in order to immediately report on any alarming events to their command.

The superstructure of the front wall of the lower terrace includes six artillery axes directed at the area in front of a bridge of Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki. There are three pairs of windows in the wall seen from the courtyard.

The lower terrace is surrounded by a brick balustrade with a pseudocrenellation. The superstructure of the two-storey-high lower terrace does not include decorative embrasures, as it does in the case of the Red Tower;. Instead, there are just plain window openings in the rectangular and arched niches of the outward elevation.

Beyond both towers there stretches out a view over the surrounding areas, including a remote granary building and a “St. Michael” round artillery tower on the other side of the river (build in the 1870s).

The Tower along with the barracks building is currently owned the Military Property Agency due to the lack of the safe entrance. The Tower is not available to tourists.

THE WATER TOWER

Around 1847 a new building, known as a water tower and aimed at solving the problem of water supply for inhabitants of the barracks, was erected it the courtyard. It was built in the neo-Renaissance style on an octagonal plan.

The Tower is surrounded by eight huge pillars with crenellation and covers a metal tented roof. In the roofed basements, between the pillars of the niches, there are stone horse troughs, taps (having the form of metal pipes coming out of the open lions’ jaws) and tap levers.

The way to the interior part leads through double door decorated with rosettes with flower motifs, while the way to the water container on the higher storey is leads through the cast-iron, openwork stairs. The ground floor was once the place for stoves, used for heating the water in the container on the higher storey.

The Tower lost its meaning after a new, more effective water tower was erected on the northern part of the barracks building. The horse troughs were probably still used during the period between the two world wars.

Today the Tower, whose outward appearance resembles a small palace, is no longer used. Despite the fact that there have not been any maintenance works for years, it continues to be the pride of the barracks courtyard. Due to its location in the middle of the closed courtyard, the Tower can be explored only in company of a PTTK guide.

THE PRINCE JÓZEF PONIATOWSKI GATE AND THE GENERAL HENRYK DĄBROWSKI GATE

The both gates were erected after the fall of the November Uprising when fortress was being expanded. As soon as the construction of the big barracks building for more than a dozen thousand soldiers started to be built, a communication problem appeared: the traffic capacity of the only gate functioning at that time, erected in the period of the Duchy of Warsaw, was declining. Thus, in order to solve the problem, the construction of two new gates, incorporated into earth embankments of the internal defence rim was designed.
The first gate, called from Russian “Michajłowskije Worota”, was built as a two-storey building in 1836 in the curtain-wall between the bastion I and the bastion II. It had a gate passage on the level of the second storey; this is why a bridge on a brick pillars was built over the moat on the axis of the gate. The bridge and the road to the gate was guarded by two artillery loopholes, which were placed on the bridge’s level on the right and left side, while in the basement there are rifle loopholes used for the defence of the bottom of the moat.
The interior elevation of the gate looked completely different. It had a classical, decorative character and an entrance in the middle, with guardhouses on both sides. The roofs over the entrances to the guardhouses were supported by Tuscan columns. There is a two-headed Tsar eagle placed over the decorative arch of the gate while on its front wall two battleaxes, the symbol of the sapper corps, can be admired. After Poland regained independence, the gate was named after the prince Józef Poniatowski and has retained this name since then.
The gate was a part of a film set in a cult Polish comedy series “CK Dezerterzy”.
The other gate, named after the general Jan Henryk Dąbrowski, in the year 1837 was incorporated into a curtain-wall joining the Bastion III and the Bastion IV. It had also two storeys and was used for defensive purpose. Its outward appearance was similar to this of the Prince J. Poniatowski Gate. The appearance of the interior elevation was more modest and had elements of the neo-Gothic architecture.
It is interesting that neither of the gates is located on the axis of entrance gates to the barracks building; the same applies to the bridges leading to both gates, built in a form of arches. Such a solution allowed to protect the gates and bridges against the results a potential shellfire.
As there were more and more cars appearing in the fortress and their weight and sizes exceeded the traffic possibilities of the bridges and gates, they were losing their previous meaning. After 1945 the gates were completely closed and started to be used as storage places. The bridge leading to the Prince J. Poniatowski Gate was pulled down. The past glory of both objects is proved by the sixteen huge bridge pillars in front of the General H. Dąbrowski Gate, which have survived to the present day.
The both gates are currently a property of the Polish Military Housing Agency and their exterior is available to tourists.

THE OSTROŁĘKA GATE

A defensive gate erected in 1836 as a part of southern security system of the fortress. It was one of the six gates with the controlled communication.

The gate had initially one fortified passage; was three-storey and the walls of its exterior rooms, exposed to the potential fire danger, were 180 cm thick. The exterior wall of the ground floor of the gate was fitted with two loopholes on each side of the fortified passage and with a pair of artillery loopholes.

The communication went through the fortified passage and a drawbridge over the moat preceding the gate. At the beginning of the 20th century the gate was fitted with another fortified passage, through which went the narrow-gauge railways from the railway station in Modlin to the factory producing concrete necessary for the building up of the fortress.

From the inside the appearance of the gate is not that austere as it is from the outside: present are there some elements of classical architecture. Over the entrances there are three big semicircular windows and the original fortified passage is fitted with a pair of Ionic pilasters, topped with capitals carrying an entablature with triglyphs. From the side of the river, the inferior and exterior of the gate are protected by the Carnot wall, running along the bank of the river.

The name “Ostrołęka” was given to the gate by the Russians, wishing to commemorate their victory over the Polish army in May 1831 (during the November Uprising between 1830-1831). The gate retained the name despite the fact that all the Russian names of objects were changed into the Polish ones after Poland regained independence.

The gate is currently a private property; it has been renovated and then turned into a restaurant specializing in Russian cuisine. On the second floor it houses a room having a capacity of a few hundred people.

THE NORTH GATE

Between the years 1809-1811, while the fortress was being built, a communication gate, called the North Gate, the Płock Gate or the Warsaw Gate, was incorporated into the embankment between the Bastions II and III (the latter called “the defensive curtain”). The gate was erected as a two-storey building with a central entrance, which an arched vault and was protected from the artillery embrasures on both left and the right side.

At that time that was the only gate in the whole fortress which joined the road from Jabłonna-Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki- Warsaw with the road to Płock, called “the Płock route”. In order to get to the route, one had to go first through two bridges, the middle of the fortress and the gate; afterwards one had to get to the road down to the river which turned right and then lead through the bottom of the moat to the real route.

A very interesting and unique architectural element, which has been preserved to the present day, is a keystone in the shape of a trapezium, located in the external arch of the bricked up gate. On the keystone there is a low relief of the eagle from the coat of arms of the Warsaw Duchy, holding the keys to fortress in its talons, the inscription “Brama Północy” (“The North Gate”) and the year it was built: 1811.

The gate served its functions until the period between 1832 and 1841 when the fortress was expanded. It was then that two next gates, increasing the communication capacity, were built, and the North Gate itself was bricked up and became a battery emplacement with the third artillery embrasure located in the central part of the bricked up entrance.

The North Gate, along with the Napoleon’s battery emplacement and a powder magazine in the Bastion III, is the oldest building in the fortress, existing since the fortress was built. It is currently owned by the Polish Military Housing Agency and is freely available to tourists.

THE POWDER MAGAZINES

As the embankments of the fortress were extended and an increasing number of artillery soldiers along with their weaponry were appearing on its area, there arose a problem of a safe storage of powder, powder charges, cannon and riffle balls.

The first bricked powder magazine was built in 1811 within the Bastion III, which was modernized in the Russian period and fitted with armour-plated door and shutters (stolen in 2004).

The next powder magazines were built in the second half of the 19th century while the first front line was being extended. Nine bricked powder rooms, providing the forts with ammunition, were built; later they were modernized and covered with concrete.

As far as the citadel itself is concerned, five additional, one-compartment concrete powder magazines were built at the turn of the 19th and 20th century. They had tunnel vaults and 2.5-metre-thick concrete ceiling. Two of them were erected in the bastions II and IV and three giant ones on the back of each of the crowns of the internal rim; all of them were covered with thick layers of soil.

The great importance of the Modlin Fortress can be proved by the amount of ammunition stored in it. In 1830, as the November Uprising erupted, there were about 12 million rifle charges and 5,600 poods (one pood equaling around 16 kg) of powder. These supplies were a great help to the insurgent army. During the January Uprising there were 49,000 poods of powder and 20.5 million of ready charges for the infantry and cavalry riffles as well as big supplies of small arms and guns. A so-called laboratory, which could be used for producing ammunition, was also located in the fortress.

The „Narew” power station

The „Narew” Power Stadion, located in a classical building opposite to the White Tower, was opened in 1924.

It was in this year that a 220 V direct current generator, which functioned thanks to a 200 horsepower steam engine, was started. A few months later another generator, this time a 5,000 V one producing three-phrase, alternating current was put into use. By the end of the year, a 8-kilometre-long power line was built.

During the next years the power station was successfully modernized; for example, the adding of two fuel-oil, internal-combustion engines, along with generator sets, allowed the power to increase up to the 6,500 V. The power line, which supplied with power energy not only the fortress, but also to Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki, was extended as well.

The power station functioned until the first half of the 1950s. It was closed after the fortress and the town were incorporated to the extended network of state power lines.

The building of the power station and the container of fuel-oil have been preserved in a good state to the present day. Unfortunately, the engines and the generator sets have been devastated or stolen.

The colonel filip meciszewski caponier

Between the years 1832 and 1844, as the barracks were built, a four-storey caponier was erected on a high Narew bank. It was built on an plan of an elongated U and adjoined the wall of the barracks building. It was used for protection of the long wings of the barracks building on the left and right side.

The caponier was built opposite to the grain granary. It was built of fortress bricks and had a 1,5-metre-thick wall and four storeys with more than 30 artillery axes and rifle slits.

During the war in August 1915, two upper storeys of the caponier were demolished in a shellfire to be finally pulled down in the later years. Since then, the caponier has had only two storeys.

After Poland regained independence and the individual objects were given Polish names instead of the Russian ones, the caponier was named after the colonel Filip Meciszewski, who was a builder of the fortress from the period of Warsaw Duchy.

After the war, the caponier housed an officers’ mess. A lot of dancing and cultural events were organized on the terrace and because of the metal figure of the knight, which was placed there, the place became known as “pod rycerzem” (“The Knight”).

The building is currently the property of the Polish Military Housing Agency. However, it continues to be available the tourists exploring the fortress. Beyond the terrace of the caponier there is a unique view over the monumental ruins of the groin granary, the place where Narew flows into the Vistula and the vast sandbars on the latter, which are a sanctuary of the waterflow.

THE MONUMENT TO WAR PORT

The monument is located in the place, where in 1918, after Poland regained independence, the foundations of the Polish Navy started to be created. The cradle of the Navy was just Modlin.

Flotylla Wiślana (the Vistula Fotilla), whose warships played an active part during the war with the Russians by defending the crossings on Narew and Vistula, was founded in 1920.

In the fortress itself the Main Weaponry Storehouse of the Polish Navy was located while the naval mines and torpedoes for the warships were produced on one of the forts.

In 1997, on the initiative of the members of the association Stowarzyszenie Ligi Morskiej, it was decided that all these events, i.e. the foundation of the first war port of the independent Republic of Poland, the foundation of the Navy, the activities of the flotilla in 1920 and the sailor’s defence of the fortress in 1939, should be commemorated with a monument in the form of a plaque with inscriptions and an anchor, the latter symbolizing Modlin’s connections with the sea. The monument was unveiled during a ceremony on June 21st, 1997. The location of the monument is not accidental; it stands exactly opposite to the channel leading to the harbour on the other side of Narew and neighbours a bridge joining its banks.

THE MONUMENT TO THE DEFENDANTS OF MODLIN

The monument, designed by Ryszard Lasot, was erected on an initiative of the corps of Modlin garrison staying at the general headquaters of the 15th bomb division. It depicts figures of soldiers and two Soviet cannons. The monument was unveiled during a ceremony on September the 29th, 1957. There were a lot of war veterans who came to the ceremony, along with their commander Wiktor Thomme. Today the monument stands opposite to the Garrison Club.