Chudów [ˈxuduf] (German: Chudow, Chutow) is a village in Poland, located in Gliwice County, within the municipality of Gmina Gierałtowice, Silesian Voivodeship, in the historical region of Silesia. It lies approximately 3 kilometres (2 mi) east of Gierałtowice, 12 km (7 mi) south-east of Gliwice, and 16 km (10 mi) west of the regional capital, Katowice.

From 1945 to 1954, Chudów was the seat of the Chudów commune. From 1954 to 1972, the village belonged to and was the seat of the Chudów administrative district. From 1975 to 1998, the village was administratively part of the Katowice Voivodeship.

The village was first mentioned in 1295 as Cudow, attested in the Latin manuscript Liber fundationis episcopatus Vratislaviensis. According to historical sources, the first confirmed owner of Chudów was Jan (Johannes) de Hodow, who appears as one of the judges in a record dated 15 October 1434. Documents from 6 July 1459 mention Jana de Hudow as the owner of the rural estate. Archaeological research indicates that in the 15th century, a wooden tower-like defence structure was erected on a small island measuring around 30–40 metres in diameter. The tower was surrounded by a palisade and reinforced around the edges of the island with a stockade (a section of the palisade and reinforcements were discovered during earlier research). This tower was probably destroyed by fire at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries.

Chudów was a privately owned medieval manor purchased in 1532 by the Roman-German Silesian nobility House of Saszowski, who bore the Saszor arms. Among many other manors, they already owned the neighbouring manor of Gierałtowice. Chudów is famous for its 16th-century Renaissance brick castle residence, which was built to replace the earlier wooden tower castle by the nobleman and scion John Saszowski von Geraltowitz (also know as Geraltowsky in German and Gierałtowski in Polish). The first construction phase of Chudów Castle consisted only of the tower itself. The remaining buildings were added later, with the first of them being the so-called manor house. The next building constructed was the so-called service building. Inside the castle, there was a rectangular courtyard surrounded by covered arcades and a well in the centre. This courtyard was created by building a curtain wall or another building that closed off the space between the manor house and the service building from the northeast. The village remained part of the House of Saszowski estates and served as a residence for its branch scions, known as Geraltowsky von Geraltowitz (in Polish: Gierałtowski z Gieraltowic), until it was inherited by the wife's relatives in the first half of the 17th century, though this inheritance was disputed. Historical sources say it was one of the most magnificent castle residences in Upper Silesia, hosting many banquets and sport hunting activities for the aristocracy. In later times, it even included its own castle brewery and inn. The original entrance to the castle was via a drawbridge over the moat, which led directly to the second floor of the castle tower.

In 1706, the new owners of the castle were the Foglarów family [pl]. After 1768, the castle changed owners quite often, losing in importance. In 1837, the castle owner, the German jurist Alexander von Bally [de], made several reconstructions to the original design of the castle, irretrievably losing its Renaissance form. Von Bally lost his assets as a result of bad investments related to the exploration of hard coal deposits, and in 1844 his estates were transferred to auction. The castle suffered severe fire damage in 1875, and its last owner, a member of the Schaffgotsch family, left it as a picturesque ruin. Abandoned to ruin since the late 19th century, only parts of the walls, the four-sided tower, and the outline of the moat survived to the present day. In 1995, the newly founded Chudów Castle Foundation began gradual restoration and reconstruction work. Since 1966, the castle ruin has been registered under No. A/568, categorized as of significant cultural value and tracked as an object of cultural heritage in Poland by the National Heritage Board of Poland. Alexander Duncker's illustration of the castle is the only known lithography of the castle from 1860. It depicts the castle after the reconstruction by von Bally.

In a restored tower, there is a small museum showcasing one of the most interesting exhibitions of ceramic medieval Gothic cocklestove tiles found in Poland. These tiles were discovered on the castle grounds during restoration works and archaeological excavations.

Since 2000, the Chudów Castle Foundation has organized an annual medieval fair in August, featuring historical reenactments of medieval tournaments and warfare on the Chudów castle grounds.

• List of castles in Poland

• Chudów Castle (Polish Zamek w Chudowie) (in Polish)
• Chudów Castle Foundation (in English)