In the 1580s, the Polish Chancellor — and one of the most powerful landowners in the country — Jan Zamoyski commissioned an Italian architect to design a city from scratch, which he would build on the flat Lublin plain. Twenty years later, Zamosc finally appeared: an authentic Italian city that maintains it gorgeous charm 500 years later…especially on the blazing-hot-but-beautiful day that was today. I was looking forward to visiting this amazing locale, and it exceeded my expectations. My only regret is that the surviving walls and gates to this fortress city are under massive renovation & were unaccessible…but it does promise that a second visit could be even more spectacular.
(1) MAIN SQUARE
The Rynek looks like it was transported physically from Italy: gorgeous colours for the houses, a Mediterranean-pink city hall, cloisters and covered walkways hiding the original entrances (the oldest survivior dating back to 1609) and endless bustling cafe activity.
(2) THE CATHEDRAL
A plain exterior hides an interior that is simple yet very imposing — an interesting fusion of Polish Gothic and Italian Renaissance (in other words, par for the course in Poland). Its crypt contains the remains of the Zamoyski family. There’s also a very Italian free-standing bell tower.
(3) ASSORTED EXTRAS
The first two shots are of the surviving synagogue. It survived the WWII holocaust, but only barely…it’s very much a ghost house of worship, for the 10 000+ Jews who once made up half the population of Zamosc…standing, but abandoned. Luckily, it seems to be in the middle of a re-building program, and I certainly hope it’s a restoration that does justice to its beautiful-yet-haunting superstructure.
Next is the Franciscan Church: an impressive structure built in the 16th century. Unfortunately, after the Polish partition in the late 18th century, it’s interior was gutted and destroyed — in various ways — by both the Austrians and the Russians. It has only recently returned to the Franciscans, and become a church once more after 200 years of neglect & desecration. The interior is an unspectacular modernist sight, but the exterior is another formidable building that deserves some T.L.C.
It was a wonderful day trip, through a quiet, almost empty part of Poland, close to the Ukranian border. Rolling fields and deep, impenetrable forests that have remained the same for centuries, it was an experience lifted out of a storybook, filled with rural watercolour images. It was a journey worthy of the destination.
