Grand Refectory (Wielki Refektarz), Malbork Castle

This is the largest hall in Malbork, it occupies the western wing of the Middle Castle (Zamek Średni) and is directly adjacent to the Palace of the Grand Masters (Pałac Wielkich Mistrzów). Meetings of the General Chapter, important negotiations and luxurious feasts for distinguished guests and European knights took place here. The room was built in 1320-1337, its size is 30 by 15 meters, while the vaulted ceiling is supported only by two elegant granite columns. The walls of the hall were decorated with frescoes and stucco, but the original medieval decor was lost as a result of two centuries of neglect, then the reconstruction of the Prussian military barracks at the end of the XVIII century and especially the catastrophic destruction of the Second World War. After the departure of the Crusaders, the Polish kings used the castle for administrative purposes and garrison accommodation. The castle was at the epicenter of the events of the Thirty Years' War and the Swedish Invasion (Potop), however, surprisingly, it did not suffer in these bloody events. The explanation is simple: storming a colossal brick fortress required huge human resources and expensive artillery supplies, so it was simply bypassed. As a result of the First Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Malbork was ceded to Prussia, and the pragmatic generals built a multi-storey barracks out of the refectory. The unique pointed Gothic windows were partially bricked up, and the ancient paintings and decorations were covered with a thick layer of rough plaster and whitewash. The first attempt at restoration was made in the early 19th century, but it would have been better if it had not been done. At that time, there were no technologies for layer-by-layer plaster removal, so the walls were completely cleaned and re-decorated in the medieval style. In the winter of 1945, Malbork turned into a German defense hub and was subjected to massive artillery shelling. The middle castle was badly destroyed, the roof of the refectory collapsed, and fires and debris almost completely destroyed the remains of medieval decorations and paintings from the 19th century. What we see today is the result of the titanic work of Polish restorers of the second half of the 20th century, who literally assembled the hall bit by bit from the ruins. Only a small fragment of the 14th century has survived to this day - the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The painting is located on the northern end wall opposite the main entrance to the hall, it is located under the Gothic arches and is clearly visible from anywhere in the refectory and served as the visual focus of the entire room. The location on the northern wall has a symbolic meaning: the north was traditionally associated by the knights of the Teutonic Order with missionary campaigns to the pagan Baltic lands. The Refectory has preserved elements of a unique medieval air heating system (hypocaustum). Round metal holes can still be seen in the floor of the Large Refectory. In summer, they were covered with tight lids, and in winter they were opened to heat the hall. The heating system of the castle is a masterpiece of thermal engineering of that time. Using the heating device of the Roman baths as a basis, medieval engineers added a thermal accumulator there: in the basements under the palace and the refectory there were large stone furnaces, the hot smoke from which passed through an array of stone boulders. When the stones were hot, the furnace was closed and channels were opened through which clean heated air from the street rose from holes in the floor and walls due to convection. Thanks to this system, even in the harshest Baltic winters, a comfortable temperature was maintained in the huge main hall.