Zamość,ść founded in 1580, is a town in Poland.
Renaissance town
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 Baroque period by the architect Bernardo Morando, a native of Padua, Zamość remains a perfect example of a Renaissance town of the late 16th century, which retains its original layout and fortifications (Zamość Fortress), and a large number of buildings blending Italian and central European architectural traditions.
At the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries Zamość was one of the most impressive fortresses in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The city was belted with powerful bastion fortifications, curtains and moats. The defensive qualities of the fortress were determined by the natural conditions, since the city was founded at the Łabuńka river and its tributary Topornica river, surrounded by the extensive marshy valley.
As a result of the merger of the fortress and the main city and thanks to the terrain, the fortress had a shape of irregular heptagon, consisting of 7 curtains and 7 bastions placed in the bends. Jan Zamoyski, the founder and owner of the city, paid a lot of attention to the defense functions of the city. In the founding document, he pledged to consolidate the city with ramparts and a moat. The city was founded in the areas that used to be threatened or attacked by the Tatars. In the case of emergency, the powerful fortress could give shelter to people fleeing from threatened areas.
In the 17th century the city was thriving during the most extensive and fastest development period. It attracted not only the Poles but also many other nationalities. During the times of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth the city belonged to Krasnystaw county, which was the part of the Red Ruthenia. In 1589 it became the capital of Zamoyski Family Fee Tail. From the very beginning Zamość was the biggest fortes in the eastern borders of the country, therefore it played a big military role. Zamoyski Family Fee Tail budded immediately and the person responsible for this was the founder of this fortes. It is doubtlessly the evidence of the connection of Poland with the European culture as well as the world culture. The news about the privileges and the benefits for the settlers made other people to come to the city. Firstly, the privileges were only for the Catholics who settled down in Zamość, however it caused the lack of the newcomers. It wasn't what Zamoyski was hoping for. In order to change that situation in the city on 30 April 1585 Armenians got the permission to settle down in Zamość. The other documents from 26 February 1588 and 10th 1589 also enabled Sephardic Jews and Greeks to settle in the city. The Sephardic Jews got the privilege to live on Szewska street and to build the synagogue. In 1589 Zamość became the capital of the city- Zamoyski Family Fee Tail formed by Jan Zamoyski and submitted by the Parliament of the republic of Poland. In 1591 there were 275 houses in Zamość, including 217 buildings in the center, 32 on the Lviv and Lublin suburbs. Between years 1580 and 1590 Zamość was a huge construction site: the construction of the palace, arsenal, townhouses, the wooden Holy Cross church was proceeding as well as the earthworks on the fortifications began. Zamość played great strategical and economic roles. It was the center of culture and science, mostly thanks to Zamojski Academy and the printery related to it. The city, however, faced numerous invasions, including the siege by the Cossacks led by Bohdan Khmelnytsky in 1648, the leader of the uprising against the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1648–1654), and during the Swedish Deluge in 1656. The Swedish army, like the Cossacks, failed to capture the city. Only during the Great Northern War Zamość was occupied by the Swedish and Saxon troops.
Following the First Partition of Poland, in 1772, the city was annexed by Austria and included within the newly formed Crown Province of Galicia. Following the Austro-Polish War of 1809 the city was incorporated to the Napoleonic Duchy of Warsaw whereas after the fall of Napoleon, following the decisions taken during the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Zamość became a part of the Kingdom of Poland, also called Congress Poland, which was controlled by the Russian Empire.