Day 3

After a hearty breakfast in our Basztowy hotel, we started driving east towards our next destination – Zamosc. On the way, we wanted to top in a village of Zwierzyniec on the edge of Roztocze National Park. We started on the main road, but soon turned to tiny country roads in the middle of nowhere. I (Bo) was surprised how nice and prosperous the villages looked in what was traditionally a poor region of Poland – nice houses, good cars and lots of colorful flowers in every garden. Zwierzyniec turned out to be a fascinating place. The whole area belonged to a wealthy aristocratic Zamoyski family who in the 16th century established a animal preserve, built a hunting lodge (now the headquarters of the National Park), later added another palace (Now Forestry School), and a chapel on a lake. We visited all these places, and we even got inside the school and the teachers’ room to see the original map of the Zamoyski territory painted on the wall. We also visited the Zwierzyniec brewery, one of the oldest in Poland (established in 1802). From there we drove to Zamosc, a town also established in 1580 by the Zamoyski family. Zamosc is on the UNESCO heritage list as a unique example of a Renaissance town in Central Europe, designed and built in accordance with the Italian theories of the "ideal town," on the basis of a plan which was the result of a cooperation between the open-minded founder, Jan Zamoyski, and the Paduan architect, Bernardo Morando and their innovative approach to town planning, combining the functions of an urban ensemble, a residence, and a fortress. The town is beautifully renovated and so far seems to be relatively free from tourist nuisances. We also found out the there was a large Armenian population here in the 16th century, invited by Zamoyski. Our hotel (Hotel77) is in an old building, but very modern and attractive inside.