precious-postcards

Old City of Zamość

Zamosc was founded in the 16th century by the chancellor Jan Zamoysky on the trade route linking western and northern Europe with the Black Sea. Modelled on Italian theories of the 'ideal city' and built by the architect Bernando Morando, a native of Padua, Zamosc is a perfect example of a late-16th-century Renaissance town. It has retained its original layout and fortifications and a large number of buildings that combine Italian and central European architectural traditions.

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/564

The Old City of Zamosc is a planned town from the Renaissance with blended Central European and Italian architecture. The city was built from 1582-1591 by the Paduan architect Bernando Morando, on the instructions of chancellor Jan Zamoysky. He named it after himself.

The new town was populated by merchants from all nationalities, religious tolerance was shown to attract people and an academy was founded.

The town also had an imposing fortress, of which now only little survives. It was built between 1579 and 1618, also by Zamoysky and Morando.

http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/site.php?id=564