English: Zamość Cathedral behind the Defensive Wall of the city, situated in the southern part of
Lublin Province, southeastern Poland, close to the border with Ukraine. The historical centre of Zamość was added to the
UNESCO World Heritage List in 1992.
Zamość was founded in 1580 by the Chancellor and Hetman (head of the army of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth), Jan Zamoyski, on the trade route linking western and northern Europe with the Black Sea. Modelled on Italian trading cities, and built during the late-renaissance period by the Padovani architect Bernardo Morando, Zamość remains a perfect example of a Renaissance town of the late sixteenth century. It retains its original street layout, fortifications (Zamość Fortress) and a large number of original buildings blending Italian and central European architectural traditions. In the seventeenth century the city thrived during its most extensive and fastest period of development and attracted not only Poles but also other nationalities. The city, however, faced numerous invasions, including a Cossack siege led by Bohdan Khmelnytsky, the leader of the uprising against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1648–1654) which resulted in the creation of a Cossack state, and another siege during the Swedish Deluge in 1656. The Swedish army, like the Cossacks, failed to capture the city. Only during the Great Northern War was Zamość occupied, by Swedish and Saxon troops.
Between 1772 and 1809, the city was annexed into the
Austrian Empire's Crown Province of
Galicia. In 1809 the city was incorporated to the Napoleonic
Duchy of Warsaw. After the fall of
Napoleon, the
Congress of Vienna in 1815, incorporated Zamość into the Kingdom of Poland, also called
Congress Poland, which was controlled by the
Russian Empire. The city played a big role during the
November Uprising in 1830–1831 and surrendered as the last Polish resistance point. The fortress was demolished in 1866, allowing the rapid growth of the city, beyond its original limits.
The Scotch Mist Gallery contains many photographs of historic buildings, monuments and memorials of Poland. Polski: Zamość.
Galeria Mist Scotch zawiera wiele zdjęć zabytkowych budowli, pomników i miejsc pamięci w Polsce.