Things to see and do Zamość

This university was the third to be founded in the Lithuanian-Polish Commonwealth. Inaugurated on March 15, 1595, it quickly became the most prestigious and sought-after university in the country, surpassing even the University of Krakow. Its activity was supported by that of its publishing house, a system that was very rare at the time. However, its decline accompanied that of the city and the university was closed by the Austrians in 1784. It then housed secondary schools, until today. Unfortunately, it has lost its beautiful decorations and arcades.

Very well documented tourist office, pleasant welcome. Guided tours also available. Bicycle rental. You can buy the Zamość tourist card(Zamojska Karta Turysty). Valid for three days from the day of purchase, it gives free access to various tours, as well as discounts in restaurants, hotels and stores. It is normally on sale from the end of April to the end of October and can be used during this period. It costs 80 zł.

This square takes its unusual name from a water reservoir called Zalewa wielka , which was used to prevent access to the fortress from the south side. Originally, the square had a square shape and was bisected by Moranda Street and surrounded by the houses of the city's rich merchants. Today, the square is occupied by a picturesque garden with a fountain in the middle, which is very popular on hot days in the Polish East. The beautiful mansions around it date from the end of the 19th century.

This beautiful church built at the end of the 16th century, under the direction of Bernardo Morando, has a splendid interior. It is considered one of the most beautiful religious monuments of the Renaissance in Poland. Its vaulting is typical of Polish mannerism.

The monumental silver tabernacle is in rococo style. In the choir, there are four paintings depicting the life of St. Thomas, the patron saint of the city. From the top of the bell tower, there is a beautiful view of the city.

This imposing building, whose construction began at the end of the 16th century on a project by Bernardo Morando, was the residence of Jan Zamoyski, his family and his successors. Unfortunately, it was rebuilt in the 19th century by the Russians, who installed a military hospital there, and lost its delicate Renaissance splendor, leaving only its imposing silhouette. Since 1918, it has housed the city's court. In front of the palace stands the equestrian statue of Jan Zamoyski, built in 2005 for the 400th anniversary of his death.

Largely gone today, the walls that once surrounded Zamość have preserved the remains of a bastion and some walls, east of the city. Taking Grodzka Street eastward, one can access a gate of the fortress, the Lviv Gate (Stara Brama Lwowska) and walk along its walls for a few hundred meters. It is also possible to make a route from the postern on Łukasińskiego Street through the shooting galleries (for more information, see www.nadszaniec.zamosc.pl).

The Market Square is the heart of the Old Town. It is built in the shape of a square, 100 meters on each side, with two straight streets intersecting in the middle: Grodzka Street and Ratuszowa and Moranda Streets, which connect the Wielki Rynek with the other two squares, Wodny Rynek and Solny Rinek. All around the square there are beautiful bourgeois houses with richly decorated arches. They belonged to rich merchants, professors and noblemen of Zamoyski's entourage. Originally, the facades of all the houses on the square were covered with decorative parapets, which, however, were removed in the 1820s. Only the parapets on the houses in the northern part of the square were restored. These houses, called "Armenian houses", belonged to rich Armenian merchants. At No. 30 Ormiańska Street is the Wilczkowska House, which houses the Zamojskie Regional Museum. On Bartoszewiczowska Street there is the "house under the lion" at No. 26, the "house under the couple" at No. 24 and the "house under the Virgin" at No. 22. These houses are topped with attics and painted in bright colors. The portals are also worth seeing. Sculpted and richly decorated, they are often original. The Rynek is dominated by a magnificent town hall (Ratusza), built in 1651. The Rynek is a lively and busy place, so don't hesitate to venture into the arcades, access the cellars and discover its bars and restaurants.

This beautiful square takes its name, you guessed it, from salt. That's because, after the founding of the city, it was brought and stored here from the mines in and around Wieliczka. A true white mineral gold, vital for the preservation of the city-fortress' food supplies, this stock was better guarded than the city's treasury! Unfortunately, the original parapet walls and facade decorations have not been preserved, except on the house called "the rabbi's house" on the northern part of the square.

Built in 1582, this former arms depot was used to store weapons and war trophies conquered by Jan Zamoyski's armies. Its collections were largely looted during the Swedish and Tatar invasions. In the early ^19th century, the Arsenal was remodeled in the neoclassical style. Today, it is a military museum and part of the regional museum. On display are antique weapons and armor, as well as drawings and paintings by soldiers depicting their lives in the trenches during the conflicts of 1915 and 1930.

Located in the Armenian houses on the Rynek, this small and very heterogeneous museum has no real theme. It offers different collections of paintings (including portraits of the city's founder), engravings, religious wooden sculptures and military equipment. There are also clothes from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, archaeological finds from the region, pottery with green and brown patterns, typical of the Carpathians, some history of the city of Zamość, including a beautiful model representing the city in the seventeenth century.

Located south of the city, beyond the Szczebrzeska Gate, in a wooded park, this 19th-century circular fort was part of the fortifications and served as a powder magazine. The red-brick fort became the site of mass executions by the Nazis during World War II. About 8,000 people were murdered. Today on the site, a cemetery honors the martyrs, and a museum recalls this painful period in the history of the city.