Fort 38 "Skała"
Fortress Kraków
The first armoured fort in Fortress Kraków, also known as the Stinking Rock. It was built in 1878 as a semi-permanent fort and rebuilt as an armoured fort in 1884-1886; it formed the western front of the fortress. The designer was the Swiss General Daniel Salis-Soglio, and the aim of the construction was to defend the line between the valleys of the Rudawa and the Vistula. In 1953 the fort was handed to the Jagiellonian University, which turned it into an astronomical observatory, opened in May 1964 for the university's 600th anniversary. The fort stands on Do Obserwatorium Street, on the slope of Sowiniec hill.
History
Fort 38 "Skała" was the first armoured fort of Kraków Fortress and its western front. It began in 1878 as a semi-permanent fort, and in 1884-1886 it was rebuilt as an armoured fort; its guns were placed in a Gruson-system armoured turret. It was the main structure of the 3rd defensive sector and was meant to secure the line between the Rudawa and Vistula valleys. It was supported by Fort 39 "Olszanica" to the north and Fort Bielany to the south. It was designed by the Swiss general Daniel Salis-Soglio. The fort lies on the gentle, west-facing slope of Sowiniec hill, and beyond it the ridge ends in a rocky drop more than ten metres high. It was also called the Stinking Rock.
There was no fighting here during the First World War. Between the wars the fort remained military property, and it was renovated in 1921-1926. On the morning of 5 September 1939 units under Colonel Wacław Klaczyński manned the "Skała" fort and several others. They put up brief but effective resistance against the German forces, and on the night of 5 to 6 September they withdrew from Kraków together with the rest of the Polish army.
The fort truly began a new life in 1953. Professor Tadeusz Banachiewicz obtained it from the military authorities for the Jagiellonian University, which set up an astronomical observatory here. The foundation stone was laid on 3 October 1961, and in May 1964, for the university's 600th anniversary, the Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Observatory was opened. A new pavilion with laboratories and staff flats was built next to the old structure, and the old fort itself was adapted for laboratories, workshops and storerooms. Five domes were built; two of them house instruments made by Carl Zeiss of Jena: a 35-centimetre Maksutov telescope (1965) and, five years later, a 50-centimetre Cassegrain telescope. The observatory still operates in the fort today.
Did you know?
In 1954 a radio telescope was put into operation at the fort. Over time a new fifteen-metre one was installed next to the older one, which had been enlarged to seven metres in diameter.