Stunning 52-room castle left to rot for 45 years as 'owner only had permission for house'

A stunning castle in the middle of nowhere was abandoned after the owner “only had permission to build a cottage”.

Łapalice Castle in Poland was built in the late 1970s by Piotr Kazimierczak, a Polish artist who wanted to use it as his home and studio.

The Renaissance-inspired castle was intended to be a great estate with 52 rooms, a swimming pool, a ballroom, ramparts, and 12 towers representing the 12 apostles.

Kazimierczak ran out of money before the project could be completed and reportedly only had permission to build a cottage, not a huge castle.

Permission was granted for a 170 square metre studio overlooking the lake and he built on 5,000 square metres. He was ordered to demolish the illegal structure but he could not afford it.

The artist did not quickly give up on his enormous project, later submitting new applications that were rejected.

He was forced to abandon his dream of completing the space—fleshing out its inside, adding wooden floors and stuccos, and installing a decorated vault.

The half-finished shell of a palace, now crumbling and covered in graffiti, is popular among urban explorers. There is a fence around the property with a huge gate.

Łapalice Castle is near Kartuzy and Zukowo and can most easily be accessed by car. People can also get there by train, requiring a hike of an hour and a half.

Those who have visited the castle have called it “one of the best covert and unofficial tourist attractions in Poland”. It was described by one as “mysterious and morose”.

A Tripadvisor reviewer said: “If finished, this would have been the most trashy and probably the largest example of kitsch in this country.”