Situated in eastern Poland, 88 kilometers southeast from Lublin, the small picturesque town of Zamość is also called as the “pearl of renaissance” and the “Padua of the north”. Zamość has preserved its original layout and fortifications and a great number of buildings combining Italian and Central European architectural traditions.

Zamość was founded in 1580 by the royal chancellor Jan Zamoyski and designed in the late renaissance style by the famous Paduan architect Bernardo Morando. Morando was the architect of almost all important buildings in Zamość such as the palace, arsenal, collegiate church, town hall, and burgher houses in the market square. Town Square with arcaded burgher houses is dominated by the Town Hall built between 1591 and 1622.

 

 

Another important building is the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Holy Mary and St. Thomas Aquinas Church was erected between 1587 and 1598. The former fortifications surrounding the Old Town are seven meter thick in some places. The Old Town of Zamość is on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.