Maltzan Family Grave and Black Gate, Milicz Palace Park

The von Maltzan family owned Milicz, according to sources, from 1590, and an extensive English-style landscape park grew up around their Neoclassical palace (sources give its size as anywhere from about 50 to about 80 ha). Two intriguing sites are hidden in its quieter, wooded part.

In the southern part of the park, beyond the road to Sułów, stand the remains of the grave of Count Andreas von Maltzan and his wife Elisabeth, née von der Schulenburg. It dates from the 1930s and is built of bog iron ore – a local rust-coloured stone. Their daughter, Maria von Maltzan, mentions it in her memoirs. At the end of Aleja Piastów, on the western side of the park, the pillars of the so-called Black Gate (Czarna Brama) emerge from the woods – the former entrance to the estate, also built of bog iron ore, probably in the 18th century. Only the side pillars, shaped like truncated pyramids, survive.

The park is open all year and free of charge. It takes a quarter of an hour or so along forest paths from the palace; wear comfortable shoes, and in autumn look out for the old oaks and beeches.