Zamosc rising
Have you ever been to Lublin? Or let me put it this way: want to visit somewhere beautiful and peaceful, with a gorgeous old town that still has the feeling of hustle and bustle?
Then Lublin isn't your destination. Actually, that's being a bit harsh: Lublin is beautiful. For a start, there's the castle. Built on the site of Kazimierz the Great's 14th century fortress, it incorporates an original chapel covered in the most stunning frescos.
And then there's the Old Town. Entering the famous Krakow Gate is like stepping back in time until you round the corner. While it survived the war, time hasn't been so kind and a lot of the buildings are in a bad state of disrepair. A few businesses operate around the rynek, but the place is conspicuously devoid of life. Step beyond the somewhat lively pubs and cafes, and a short labyrinth quickly dissolves into busy streets with views of industry and old housing blocks.
I know that historically, Lublin has a special place in the Polish heart. This is where Poland and Lithuania united in 1569; where the first independent post-World War I government was formed; and where the Soviets installed their first provisional government. And more recently, many credit Lublin as being the wellspring of Solidarity. But I think the city's biggest saving grace is that it's a university town and students who conglomerate outside the Stare Miasto around plac Lokietka provide some animation.
So, as a weekend tourist destination, it wasn't quite what I was after, and some quick rescheduling saw my traveling companion and I back in the car, heading further southeast to Zamosc.
An hour's drive along some of Poland's best roads (it's sad that I can get so excited about a road), the route to Zamosc takes you over gentle hills and dales. Horses and carts clip-clop along the roads and come dusk, fireplaces fume and farmers collect dairy cows from the fields. A long convoy of NATO vans reminded us that we were close to the Ukrainian border.
I didn't know a lot about Zamosc except when I told a friend that's where we were going, he asked "Why? It's boring." But the guidebooks raved, calling it "the Padua of the North" and the "Town of Arcades," and in 1992 it was included in UNESCO's World Heritage list. So for me, that sounded tempting enough.
It was dusk when we arrived. We parked the car and followed the cobblestoned road on foot to the old town where the sky's sunset hues were reflected in the rynek's brightly painted buildings: pastel pink, baby blue, lemon and pistachio green. Standing tall on the square was a great pink and white frivolity the old town hall. With a sweeping white double staircase and a great copper turret, it dominated the whole picture.
"This place is beautiful," or something just as inane spilled from my lips. It felt like a city that was still lived in by its townsfolk. People wandered about, children played. Despite the chilly weather, a couple of bars had tables and chairs outside where people were enjoying the last moments of light. In summer, this must be a hive of activity particularly when the town plays host to annual jazz and theater festivals.
Streets radiated from the square and as night fell, we wandered around, soaking up the atmosphere. A quick pint of the local drop Zwierzyniec pilsner at the Green Pub gave us courage to tackle the vexing issue of accommodation.
We'd phoned ahead at the Hotel Arkadia, which is right on the rynek. But when we had a look, it was dark and dingy and smelled of too many cabbage dinners. The check-in counter doubled as the hotel bar and there was not a soul around. Luckily, on our walk we spotted a brand new Orbis hotel clean, modern and bright with a glass-roofed courtyard it was brilliant. The hotel opened 12 months ago, and I think we were the only guests. We were given a room with views of the rynek.
Zamosc is a unique place: It was built in one go according to a plan devised in 1580 by Jan Zamoyski and an Italian architect from Padua, Bernardo Morando. Zamoyski was Poland's chancellor and commander in chief of the crown. He had studied in Padua and wanted to establish a cultural, religious and intellectual center in Poland, away from the conservative Jagiellonian University in Krakow.
Zamoyski found that his Zamosc residential plots went like hot cakes. He established a printing house, and the Zamosc Academy (which fast became one of Poland's most respected universities) followed in 1594. Including the vast fortified wall that circled Zamosc, construction was finally completed in 1618.
Of course Zamoyski built himself a modest castle too, where he lived extravagantly and played host to royalty and politicians. Today it is a shambling white wreck, the better parts of which house some Zamosc courtrooms.
For a long time the city prospered and the fortifications protected it from all foreign attacks. In 1656, the Swedes lobbed 150 burning cannon balls over the walls. They managed to kill one ox and injure a sleeping local.
The Nazis were more strategic in their attack and during World War II the Gestapo set up offices outside the walls in a fortified armament storage area called the Rotunda. It's a spooky place to visit, surrounded by the graves of Poles, Jews and Russians who had been tortured and shot. You can walk through the dark adjoining compartments within the rotunda each one is a shrine to various local towns that suffered under the Nazis. In total, 100,000 Poles were removed from Zamosc and surrounding villages because the Nazis intended on establishing a vast German resettlement area. In a moment of egotistical inspiration, German Interior Minister Heinrich Himmler announced that Zamosc would be renamed Himmlerstadt!
Thankfully, once again, Zamosc survived an attack and today it's an interesting place to visit. In 1987, the Pope insisted it be included on his Polish tour. The place was spruced up but the outer edges of the old town are slowly crumbling back into the earth.
We spent the best part of the next day wandering around again, helped along by an over-priced coffee at Pozegnanie z Afryka. We visited the Armaments Museum and the cathedral. The town museum, housed in four ornate buildings that were once the homes of wealthy Armenian traders, is filled with costumes, props and photos from the Polish box-office hit, "With Fire and Sword," which told the tale of the war between the Poles, Cossacks and Tartars.
By the time we left, the day had slipped away and the three-hour trip back to Warsaw, with all that crazy traffic, was a little tiring. But we came away from Zamosc with more than just fond memories we had a trunk load of that fine Zwierzyniec pilsner that sells for just zl. 1.38 a pop at the local supermarket.
