Zamość - Poland Best City - Travel & Discover

Zamość is one of the most authentic renaissance cities left in Europe. The urban layout is widely recognized as a magnificent monument of late renaissance architecture, built because of the will and vision of one man. Zamość in fact owes its perfection to two men, Jan Zamoyski and Bernardo Morando. Nobleman Jan Zamoyski wanted to build a private city out of nothing, and the architect Morando was the man with the capability and vision to do it. They worked together for 25 years and created a masterpiece whose splendor can be admired to this day. Little has changed in the general design since Zamoyski founded the city in 1580. The Italian architect Bernardo Morando, a native Parua, designed Zamość not just to be beautiful, but to be practical and useful as well. The site was located on the trade route linking western and northern Europe with the Black Sea. Morando modeled his creation on Italian trading cities to inspire the growth of the city as an intellectual and economic capital. This unique city combines beauty with functionality. The town has three squares, a right-angled network of broad streets, large plots for the city's most important buildings, and churches for every religion. The city was designed to integrate business, scientific, and cultural life with the defensive functions of the fortress. Tolerant and open-minded, Zamoyski freely invited one and all to his town, including Jews, Armenians, Greeks, Scots, Hungarians, and of course Italians. By granting them generous privileges, he cultivated a group of progressive and prosperous merchants. Zamość was situated at the crossroads of important trade routes leading from Kiev to Gdansk and from Vilnius to Kraków. Trade contributed enormously to the city's prosperity and growth. Walking along its narrow, charming streets surrounded by old townhouses provides you with an excellent opportunity to admire the beautiful Renaissance architecture of this Polish Parua of the North. The Great Market is a centrally located square. Dating back to the 16th century, it follows the antique tradition of the Forum Publicum. 100 meters long by 100 meters wide, it is one of the biggest squares in Europe. On each side of the square are eight row houses with arcades, which once housed shops and wineries. The Zamość Cathedral, dedicated to the resurrection and St. Thomas Apostle, is one of the most beautiful churches in Polish architecture. It was erected as a collegiate church and functioned as such until 1992. The cathedral reaches to the sky with a bell tower and bell over 300 years old. The church's exterior has remained virtually intact over the centuries. The rich architectural decoration is matched by equally sumptuous interior furnishings with paintings by the great Italian master Giacomo Tintoretto. The chapels are equipped with rich Baroque altarpieces and paintings by Italian and Polish masters. The bodies of the lords of the estate were laid to rest in the vaults located under the church. The Zamość family mausoleum is open to the public. In Poland, it is very common to see churches built originally in the Renaissance or Gothic style, but with an interior from a different epoch, often the Baroque. One part of the cathedral buildings, the so-called Mater Prelisi, houses a museum of sacred art. Religion played an important role in the ideal town of the anticipated ideal state. The museum of sacred art contains priceless collections, most of which once belonged to the Zamość family. On display is also a collection of liturgical vestments from the 17th century, along with some splendid reliquaries from the 16th to the 18th centuries. The city was surrounded by a modern system of fortifications with bastions and three gates, the Lublin, Sibryzin and the Lvov gates, while a fourth one, the so-called New Lublin gate, was built in the 19th century. These modern star-shaped fortifications helped the military defend the city against invaders. The entire system was planned from the city's inception. Morando marked out the outer line of the town, two and a half kilometers long, and ordered them out to be dug. The dug-out soil was used to make the embankments. As a result of all these massive efforts, Zamość was surrounded by strong walls. Its impressive brickwork bailey was 12 meters high and 2.5 meters thick. Only three gates led into the city, each one equipped with a drawbridge. However, it was not until the 1620s that Morando's successor, André de L'Aqua, completed the fortress. The Lublin gate, an additional building of the Zamość fortress, was constructed in 1588. The Zamość fortress is one of the biggest fortresses of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, built so solidly that it was able to resist the attacks of both the Cossacks and Swedes during the Deluge, a series of mid-17th century campaigns in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This perfect fortification design influenced Polish history. Zamość was never conquered by any invading army. Numerous reconstructions took place until the 19th century, though the fortress was closed down by the Russians in 1866 and part of the walls demolished. For the most part, the modern town was established and grew outside the fortifications, lending the old town a great degree of coherence in its plan and architecture. The Church of Saint Catherine, with its picturesque little bell and roof, was renovated in 1997. Another of the city's churches, the Redemptorist Church, originally belonged to the Orthodox Basilians, though since 1934 the church has been dedicated to Saint Nicholas and belongs to the Redemptorist Order. The town hall is one of Zamość's principal monuments, its historical importance to the city displayed in its impressive tower and imposing staircase. During the Renaissance, this building was one of the centers of city life, and the mayor's offices are still located here. As Zamość wanted, the town hall is situated not in the middle of the market square, but amidst the houses lining one of its sides. Zamość didn't want its 52-meter-high tower to dominate his nearby palace. To this day, a trumpeter on that clock tower plays a bugle call of Zamość at 12 noon. The town hall was built at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries according to Miranda's design, though it was later remodeled by the architects Jarosław Iwicz and Wolf. The Catholic Cathedral and Synagogue in Zamość were designed at almost the same time and in similar architectural styles, and even the same type of decoration was used. The park is one of the major modern greenery projects in Poland. It was created following Valerian Cronenberg's design in the 1920s, on the site where the town's fortifications once stood. The park covers an area of 11.2 hectares. The town park is among the most beautiful parks in Poland thanks to the fragments of the town's original fortifications which have remained, a pond with ducks and swans, as well as over 50 species of very rare trees and bushes. The former residence of the Zamoyski family, erected by Jan Zamoyski in 1579-1586 according to Bernardo Morando's design, is situated at the western end of the main axis of the town, and used to be separated from the town with its own fortifications. Originally a one-story building, erected by Bernardo Morando in the 1580s and situated north of the Zamoyski Palace, the arsenal was one of the town's first public buildings. Zamość is considered one of the most precious urban complexes in Europe, if not the world. The Renaissance urban plan of Zamość, together with its most important historical monuments, have been preserved until today. Zamość was included on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1992 as the third Polish city after Krakow and Warsaw to attain this recognition.