Zamość (; ; ) is a historical city in southeastern Poland. It is situated in the southern part of Lublin Voivodeship, about from Lublin, from Warsaw. In 2021, the population of Zamość was 62,021.

Zamość is about from the Roztocze National Park.

History

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 Paduan architect Bernardo Morando, Zamość remains a perfect example of a Renaissance town of the late 16th century. It retains its original street layout, fortifications (Zamość Fortress), and a large number of original buildings blending Venetian and central European architectural traditions.

thumb|left|Zamość in 1617

In the 16th century, the city thrived during its most extensive and fastest period of development. It attracted not only Poles but also other nationalities. In 1594, Jan Zamoyski founded the Zamoyski Academy in Zamość. 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), 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.

In the First Partition of Poland in 1772 the city was annexed by the Habsburg monarchy, forming part of the newly established Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria; the kingdom became a crown land of the Austrian Empire upon its formation in 1804. Following the Austro-Polish War of 1809 the city was incorporated into the short-lived Polish Duchy of Warsaw. The 17th Polish Infantry Regiment was formed in Zamość in 1809. In 1815, the Congress of Vienna dissolved the duchy and made Zamość part of the Kingdom of Poland, also called Congress Poland, which was controlled by the Russian Empire. The city played a considerable 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. During the final stages of World War I, in 1918, local Poles liberated the city from foreign occupation, shortly before Poland officially regained independence.

World War II

In September 1939, after the outbreak of World War II, German Luftwaffe planes bombed Zamość several times. Over 250 people were killed, mainly civilians. In early September 1939, the Polish government evacuated a portion of the Polish gold reserve from Warsaw to Zamość, and then further southeast to Śniatyn at the Poland-Romania border, from where it was transported via Romania and Turkey to territory controlled by Polish-allied France. The city was overrun by the Germans during the invasion of Poland and the local garrison, staffed by the Polish infantry regiment of podpułkownik Stanisław Gumowski, was defeated. for arrested and displaced inhabitants of the Zamość region (including thousands of children) and camps The name was later changed to Pflugstadt (Plow City), a reference to the German "plow" that was to "plow the East". Neither name endured.

Local people resisted the German occupiers with great determination; they escaped into the forests, organised self-defence, gave help to those who were expelled, and rescued kidnapped Polish children from German hands by bribery (see Zamość Uprising). The Nazis found it difficult to find many families suitable for settlement in the area, and those who did settle often fled in fear, because the former Polish residents would burn down houses or kill their inhabitants.

In 1942–1943, tens of thousands of inhabitants of the region were ethnically cleansed by the Nazi occupiers, to make space for German settlers in order to ensure Germanisation of the area. Most former inhabitants were deported to forced labor camps in Germany, Nazi concentration camps or extermination camps such as Auschwitz, Majdanek and Bełżec.

Post-war period

thumb|Aerial view of the Old City of Zamość

After World War II, Zamość began a period of development. In the 1970s and 1980s the population grew rapidly (from 39,100 in 1975 to 68,800 in 2003), as the city started to gain significant profits from the old trade routes linking Germany with Ukraine and the ports on the Black Sea. During the years 1975–1998 Zamość was the capital of Zamość Voivodeship.

Jewish Community

thumb|left|[[Zamość Synagogue from 1618 is a prime example of Polish Renaissance architecture]]

The Qahal of Zamość was founded in 1588 when Jan Zamoyski agreed to Jewish settlement in the city. The first Jewish settlers were mainly Sephardi Jews coming from Italy, Spain, Portugal and Turkey. In the 17th century, Ashkenazi Jews also settled in the city and soon became the majority of the Jewish population. The settlement rights given by Jan Zamoyski were re-confirmed in 1684 by Marcin Zamoyski, the fourth Ordynat of the Zamość estate.

thumb|upright|Monument to Jews of Zamość who were murdered in the Holocaust

At the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, the Jewish inhabitants were influenced by the Jewish Enlightenment, or Haskalah. Rabbis forbade the entry of Hasids into Zamosc, until the late nineteenth century. In Zamość there was a Jewish synagogue, two houses of worship, a ritual bathhouse, a hospital and a slaughterhouse. The best preserved remnant of the Jewish community is the now restored Zamość Synagogue. Zamość was home to many prominent Jews, including poet Solomon Ettinger (1799–1855) and writer Isaac Leib Peretz. In 1827, 2,874 Jews lived in the city and this had risen by 1900 to 7,034. The increase continued, so that by 1921 the Jewish population stood at 9,383 (49.3% of the total population), including significant landowners within the city.

On the eve of World War II, more than 12,500 Jews lived in Zamość; 43 percent of the population of 28,100. Soon after the handing over to the Germans by the Soviet Union on October 8, 1939, the Nazis instituted the Judenrat, through which to control the Jews, and in December 1939 created an open ghetto in the Nowa Osada neighbourhood.

Jews deported from the newly formed Warthegau province in German-annexed western Poland were transported to Zamość

Architecture

Most historic buildings are located in the Old Town, whose main distinguishing features have been retained. It includes the regular Great Market Square (Rynek Wielki) of 100 x 100 metres with the splendid Town Hall (Ratusz) and the so-called "Armenian houses", as well as fragments of the original fortress and fortifications, including those of the Russian occupation in the 19th century. (The destroyed sections of fortifications have been largely rebuilt to restore the city's appearance.)

It is often called "the new Padua".

Jan Zamoyski commissioned the Venetian (from Padua) architect Bernardo Morando to design the city, based upon the anthropomorphic concept. Its "head" was to be the Zamoyski Palace, "backbone" Grodzka Street, crossing the Great Market Square from east to west, in the direction of the palace, and with the "arms" embodied by 10 streets intersecting the main streets: Solna Street (north of the Great Market Square) and Bernardo Morando Street (south of the Great Market Square). In these streets, the other squares were placed: Salt Square (Rynek Solny) and Water Square (Rynek Wodny), functioning as the "internal organs" of the city whereas the bastions are the "hands and legs" for self-defence.

The Town Hall stands on the north side of the Great Market Square, regarded as one of the most beautiful 16th-century squares in Europe. It is surrounded by a complex of arcaded houses built by the richest Zamość merchants. It is a square, measuring about 100 metres in both width and length, crossed by the two main axes of the old town. The 600-metre longitudinal axis goes east–west: from Bastion No. 7 to the Zamoyski Palace. The 400-metre crosswise axis goes north–south, linking the Great Market Square with the two smaller market squares: Solny and Wodny.

After Zamoyski's death, it slowly lost its importance, and in 1784 it was downgraded to a lyceum. The present-day I Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Jana Zamoyskiego is one of several secondary schools in Zamość.

thumb|right|Former Academy

thumb|right|The Old Arsenal, now a museum

In modern Zamość there are 9 secondary schools: 7 public (numbered from 1 to 7), one Catholic and one Social school. In addition, there are 10 primary schools: 8 public (numbered from 2 – 4 and from 6–10) as well as a Catholic and a Social primary school.

High schools

  • I Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Jana Zamoyskiego
  • II Liceum Ogólnokształcąse im. M. Konopnickiej
  • III Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. K. C. Norwida
  • IV Liceum Ogólnokształcące im Armi Krajowej

Technikum

  • Zespół szkół ponadgimnazjalnych 1 Ekonomik
  • Zespół szkół ponadgimnazjalnych 2 Mechanik
  • Zespół szkół ponadgimnazjalnych 3 Elektryk
  • Zespół szkół ponadgimnazjalnych 4 Budowlanka
  • Zespół szkół ponadgimnazjalnych 5 Rolniczak

Colleges

  • Akademia Zamojska w Zamościu
  • Wyższa Szkoła Humanistyczno-Ekonomiczna im. Jana Zamoyskiego
  • Wyższa Szkoła Zarządzania i Administracji
  • Zespół Kolegiów Nauczycielskich w Zamościu

Economy

The city is located on the broad gauge railway line linking the former Soviet Union with Upper Silesian coal and sulphur mines as well as less than 60 kilometers (37 miles) from the border crossings to Ukraine. Zamość is also located on a standard gauge rail line, although it is not electrified. The economy of the city is based on services which is why it is dominated by numerous small and medium-sized enterprises. However, there are some large production plants, mainly food factories and companies, that reflect the regional dominance of agriculture. These include the Zamojskie Wheat Company (Zamojskie Zakłady Zbożowe), the Animex fodder company, the Mors frozen food producer, and a daughter company of the Dairy in Krasnystaw.

The city is also a centre of expertise for agriculture and a market for various agricultural products. In addition, the other companies include a daughter company of the Black Red White furniture company (former Zamojskie Furniture Company), the Spomasz Zamość SA industrial and metal hardware producer, the SIPMOT agricultural machinery producer (a branch of the SIPMA Group from Lublin and a branch of Stalprodukt (former Metalplast) – producer of metal hardware and equipment from Bochnia, listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

Culture

thumb|upright=1.12|right|7th Bastion of the Fortress – The only fully preserved bastion

The Old Town and the remnants of the old Zamość Fortress constitute an urban complex inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Zamość hosts the following cultural events: concerts of music performed by the Karol Namysłowski Symphonic Orchestra in Zamość and by Polish artists representing different kinds of music, Zamość Days of Music (Zamojskie Dni Muzyki) and International Meetings of Jazz Singers (Międzynarodowe Spotkania Wokalistów Jazzowych), which is a tribute to Mieczysław Kosz, a great blind jazz player and composer who used to combine his jazz music with the Polish folk.

thumb|upright=1.12|right|The Centre of Film Culture "Stylowy" in Zamość ("Stylowy" cinema)

Jazz na Kresach is a very popular annual music festival that dates back to 1982 and has been held since. The festival is organised in Zamość Old Town by the Zamość Jazz Club to commemorate Mieczysław Kosz.

In addition, there are the open-air performances of the Zamość Summer Theatre (Zamojskie Lato Teatralne) and the annual "EUROFOLK" International Folk Festival. There are the Summer Film Academy and the "SACROFILM" International Religious Film Days.

Geography

Climate

The climate is warm-summer humid continental (Köppen: Dfb), typical of eastern Poland.

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Sports

thumb|Swimming pool

Zamość is home to several sport clubs, the most prominent being handball team Padwa Zamość, football team Hetman Zamość, and multi-sports club with athletics, archery, cycling, weightlifting, wrestling and sumo sections.

Notable people

thumb|upright|Birthplace of [[Rosa Luxemburg]]

thumb|right|Birthplace and childhood home of musician [[Marek Grechuta]]

thumb|right|Former home of poet [[Bolesław Leśmian]]

  • Tauba Biterman (1918–2019), Holocaust survivor who dedicated her adult life to teaching and sharing memories of the Holocaust
  • Joseph Epstein (1911–1944), Polish-born Jewish communist activist and a French Resistance leader during World War II
  • Solomon Ettinger (1802–1856), Yiddish- and Hebrew-language playwright, poet and writer of songs and fables
  • Marek Grechuta (1945–2006), Polish singer, songwriter, composer, and lyricist
  • Anna Jakubczak (born 1973), Polish middle-distance runner
  • Irene Lieblich (1923–2008), Polish-born artist and Holocaust survivor noted for illustrating the books of Nobel laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer and for her paintings highlighting Jewish life and culture
  • Rosa Luxemburg (1871–1919), Marxist theorist, philosopher, economist and activist of Polish Jewish descent who became a naturalized German citizen
  • Adam Niklewicz (born 1957), American sculptor and illustrator
  • Zbigniew Nowosadzki (born 1957), Polish painter
  • Isaac Leib Peretz (1852–1915), Yiddish language author and playwright
  • Mateusz Prus (born 1990), professional footballer
  • Leopold Skulski (1878–1940), Prime Minister of Poland from 1919 to 1920
  • Mordechai Strigler (1921–1998), Yiddish writer
  • Przemysław Tytoń (born 1987), Polish goalkeeper
  • Gryzelda Konstancja Zamoyska (1623–1672), wife of Jeremi Wiśniowiecki and the mother of Polish King Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki (Michael I)
  • Jan "Sobiepan" Zamoyski (1627–1665), 3rd Ordynat of the Ordynacja Zamojska estates
  • Aleksander Zederbaum (1816–1893), Polish-Russian Jewish journalist, founder and editor of Ha-Meliẓ, and other periodicals published in Russian and Yiddish
  • Szymon Szymonowic (1558–1629), Polish humanist, poet associated with Grand Hetman and Royal Chancellor Jan Zamoyski, with whom in 1593–1605 he organized the Zamoyski Academy
  • Bernardo Morando (–1600), Italian architect, author of a new town of Zamość, mayor of Zamość
  • Stanisław Staszic (1755–1826), Polish priest, philosopher, statesman, geologist, scholar, poet and writer, a leader of the Polish Enlightenment. He was a tutor for the children of Andrzej Zamoyski, the 10th Ordynat of the Ordynacja Zamojska estates
  • Bolesław Leśmian (1877–1937), Polish poet, artist and member of the Polish Academy of Literature, one of the most influential poets of the early 20th century in Poland. He lived and worked as a lawyer (notary) in Zamość
  • Jacob ben Wolf Kranz (1741–1804), rabbi known for his instructive lessons based on Jewish tradition
  • Walerian Łukasiński (1786–1868), Polish officer and political activist, sentenced by Russian Imperial authorities to 14 years' imprisonment, he was never released and died after 46 years. He spent 7 years in the tsarist prison in Zamość.
  • Simeon of Poland, Polish-Armenian priest and traveler

Literature

Fritz Stuber, "Notes on the Revalorization of Historic Towns in Poland", in Ekistics (Athens), Vol. 49, No. 295, 1982, pp.&nbsp;336–341, 3 ill.

Twin towns – sister cities

Zamość is twinned with OWHC cities as well as:

  • Schwäbisch Hall, Germany (since 1989)
  • Zhovkva, Ukraine (since 1991)