free entrymuseums and towers have separate tickets
The walk starts at the tourist information office in the town hall and ends in the Town Park, a few minutes from the square. If you are already in the Old Town, Turi will guide you from the nearest point. The Old Town is flat and easy with a pushchair, there are stairs only in the cathedral bell tower and on the Bastion VII route. Walking around town is free. Tickets are needed for the Zamość Museum, the synagogue, the Bastion VII route, the bell tower and the Museum of Fortifications and Weapons, among others. In season the bugle call is played from the town hall tower at noon. There are toilets by the Salt Market, by Bastion VII and by Szczebrzeska Gate, among other places.
At home, open the place in Turi and tap “Save for offline”: the map, descriptions and photos will work without signal.
Visit the furthest points first, while the kids still have energy.
Tick things off as you go, and by the exit you’ll know what’s left.
Zamość Old Town in the Turi app
Live position, a route from point to point, descriptions to read and listen to. Free, no account, and in English, German and Ukrainian too.
The same map as in the app. Tap a point to see its photo and description; in Turi you’ll see yourselves on it too.
1recommended, in route orderother pointsWCtoilets, food, tickets
Map: OpenStreetMap (ODbL). Descriptions and photos: Turi and Wikimedia Commons. Something not right? Report it in the app at that point.
Worth seeing
Zamość was built from scratch to a single plan. In 1580 Hetman Jan Zamoyski ordered an ideal city from an Italian architect and got one: with a square market place, the colourful houses of the Armenians, an academy and walls that neither the Cossacks nor the Swedes could overcome. The walk starts below the town hall with its fan-shaped stairs, leads through three market squares, past the synagogue and through the inside of a bastion, then on to the cathedral with its viewing tower and the arsenal with its cannons. It ends in the park by the pond, a few steps from the zoo.
Photo Danutar, CC BY-SA 3.0 pl, Wikimedia Commons1
Building / monument
Town Hall
The town hall with its 52-metre clock tower is the symbol of Zamość. Building began in 1591, and the wide fan-shaped stairs were added only in the 18th century. It stands in an unusual place: not in the middle of the square but in its northern side, because the most important building in town was meant to be the founder's palace. In season a bugler plays from the tower at noon. The bugle call sounds in only three directions. Legend says Hetman Zamoyski forbade playing it towards Kraków.
Photo Niki4wiki, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons2
Attraction
Great Market Square
A square exactly 100 metres on each side, ringed by arcaded townhouses, is considered one of the most beautiful market squares in Europe. Zamość did not grow slowly like other towns. In 1580 Hetman Jan Zamoyski had it built from scratch, and the Italian architect Bernardo Morando drew the plan of an ideal city in which everything has its place. That is why Zamość is called the Padua of the North, and since 1992 it has been on the UNESCO list. Under the arcades you can walk all the way round the square without getting wet, even in the rain.
Photo Pudelek (Marcin Szala), CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons3
Building / monument
Armenian Houses
The five most colourful houses on the square stand to the right of the town hall. They were built in the 17th century by Armenian merchants, whom Jan Zamoyski invited to the town because they were famous for trading in goods from the East. Each has a different colour and its own decorations. Look for an angel, a married couple and a Madonna trampling a dragon. Inside is the Zamość Museum.
Photo Andrzej Otrębski, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons4
Building / monument
Synagogue
One of the best-preserved Renaissance synagogues in Poland. It was built between 1610 and 1620 by Sephardic Jews, whose ancestors came from Spain and Portugal. Zamoyski invited them to his town just as he did the Armenians. Outside it is crowned with a parapet like those on the houses by the square. After the war it served as a library for almost half a century. Today it is a cultural centre with an exhibition about the Jews of Zamość, and inside it is worth looking up at the decorated vault.
Photo Zala, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons5
Attraction
Bastion VII
Zamość was not only a beautiful town but also a mighty fortress. In 1648 it held out against Khmelnytsky's Cossacks, and in 1656 against the Swedes, who had overrun almost all of Poland at the time. Bastion VII is the best-preserved part of the defences. With a guide you walk along a corridor inside the walls, look into the casemates where the cannons stood and come out on top, with a view over the rooftops of the Old Town. Next door, in the former cavalier, there is a hall with souvenir stalls.
Photo Sylwpak, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons6
Attraction
Water Market
The third and quietest of Zamość's market squares. After its redesign it became a pedestrian square with a fountain that glows in colours in the evening. Here you will also find a sculpture from a poem by Bolesław Leśmian: the peasant Bajdała and the spiteful little creature Dusiołek, who would not let him sleep. Leśmian, one of Poland's most famous poets, worked in Zamość as a notary for more than a decade.
Photo Przemyslaw nowosad, CC BY-SA 3.0 pl, Wikimedia Commons7
Building / monument
Cathedral and bell tower
The church was designed by the same architect as the whole town, Bernardo Morando, and funded by Jan Zamoyski. It was built at the end of the 16th century on the model of Italian churches. In the crypt beneath the floor lie the hetman and later owners of Zamość. Beside it stands a separate bell tower. You can climb it and from the terrace see the square, the town hall and the neat grid of streets, passing the great bells on the way.
Photo Maciej Ukleja - [1], CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons8
Building / monument
Arsenal
In the armoury Hetman Zamoyski kept his cannons and the trophies from his military campaigns. The present building dates from the first half of the 17th century. Today it houses the Museum of Fortifications and Weapons. You will see armour, sabres and guns, and next to it, in the open air, stands military equipment that you can get quite close to. This is where children usually want to stay the longest.
Photo Andrzej Otrębski, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons9
Attraction
Jan Zamoyski Monument and the palace
The hetman on horseback looks towards the palace where the building of the town began. Jan Zamoyski was chancellor and commander of the armies of the Commonwealth, one of the most powerful men of his day. The monument is 10 metres high and was put up in 2005, on the 400th anniversary of his death. The palace was built from 1579 to Morando's design. In the 19th century it was converted into a military hospital, which is why it looks plainer today than the houses by the square.
Photo Aung, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons10
Attraction
Town Park
The park was laid out between 1919 and 1926 on the former grounds of the fortress, which is why it has hillocks made from ramparts, remnants of the defences and a pond. The paths lead over little bridges and past old walls, and by the water you can easily spot ducks. It is a good place to rest after the walk. A few minutes further on, in Szczebrzeska Street, is the Zamość zoo.
All points (22)
Grouped as in the map legend. A star marks recommended points.
Building / monument 10
Town Hall ★The town hall with its 52-metre clock tower is the symbol of Zamość. Building began in 1591, and the wide fan-shaped stairs were added only in the 18th century. It stands in an unusual place: not in the middle of the square but in its northern side, because the most important building in town was meant to be the founder's palace. In season a bugler plays from the tower at noon. The bugle call sounds in only three directions. Legend says Hetman Zamoyski forbade playing it towards Kraków.
Armenian Houses ★The five most colourful houses on the square stand to the right of the town hall. They were built in the 17th century by Armenian merchants, whom Jan Zamoyski invited to the town because they were famous for trading in goods from the East. Each has a different colour and its own decorations. Look for an angel, a married couple and a Madonna trampling a dragon. Inside is the Zamość Museum.
Synagogue ★One of the best-preserved Renaissance synagogues in Poland. It was built between 1610 and 1620 by Sephardic Jews, whose ancestors came from Spain and Portugal. Zamoyski invited them to his town just as he did the Armenians. Outside it is crowned with a parapet like those on the houses by the square. After the war it served as a library for almost half a century. Today it is a cultural centre with an exhibition about the Jews of Zamość, and inside it is worth looking up at the decorated vault.
Cathedral and bell tower ★The church was designed by the same architect as the whole town, Bernardo Morando, and funded by Jan Zamoyski. It was built at the end of the 16th century on the model of Italian churches. In the crypt beneath the floor lie the hetman and later owners of Zamość. Beside it stands a separate bell tower. You can climb it and from the terrace see the square, the town hall and the neat grid of streets, passing the great bells on the way.
Arsenal ★In the armoury Hetman Zamoyski kept his cannons and the trophies from his military campaigns. The present building dates from the first half of the 17th century. Today it houses the Museum of Fortifications and Weapons. You will see armour, sabres and guns, and next to it, in the open air, stands military equipment that you can get quite close to. This is where children usually want to stay the longest.
Old Lviv GateThis was the gate through which people left Zamość for Lviv. When the fortress was strengthened in the 19th century, the old gate was bricked up and a new one built next to it. The old one was turned into a prison. Among those held here was Major Walerian Łukasiński, who fought for a free Poland and spent more than 40 years in Tsarist prisons. A plaque marks his cell.
Franciscan ChurchThis white Baroque church from the mid-17th century was one of the largest in Poland at the time. Later it was less fortunate: the occupying powers turned it into a storehouse and barracks, and after the war it housed a cinema for many years. The Franciscans returned only at the end of the 20th century. Recently the church regained its ornate gables and former appearance.
Szczebrzeska GateOne of the town's first three gates was built in the early 17th century. It was also called St Florian's Gate after a statue of St Florian, the patron saint of firefighters. It led west towards Szczebrzeszyn, the town from Poland's most famous tongue-twister about a beetle buzzing in the reeds. In 1866 the passage was bricked up. Today you can walk through it again over a wooden bridge across the old moat.
Zamość AcademyIn 1594 Jan Zamoyski founded his own university here. It was the first private institution of higher education in the Commonwealth. The hetman paid for it out of his own pocket because he wanted young people to be able to study without going abroad. The Academy operated for almost 200 years, until 1784. In 2021 its name returned, and there is once again a Zamość Academy in the town.
Old Lublin GateAn unusual promise is linked to this gate. Around 1582 Jan Zamoyski hosted King Stephen Báthory and vowed that after him no one else would ride through it. In 1588 the hetman did lead one more person through: his prisoner, Archduke Maximilian, who wanted to become King of Poland and lost the Battle of Byczyna. After that the gate was bricked up and stayed closed for several hundred years.
Attraction 6
Great Market Square ★A square exactly 100 metres on each side, ringed by arcaded townhouses, is considered one of the most beautiful market squares in Europe. Zamość did not grow slowly like other towns. In 1580 Hetman Jan Zamoyski had it built from scratch, and the Italian architect Bernardo Morando drew the plan of an ideal city in which everything has its place. That is why Zamość is called the Padua of the North, and since 1992 it has been on the UNESCO list. Under the arcades you can walk all the way round the square without getting wet, even in the rain.
Bastion VII ★Zamość was not only a beautiful town but also a mighty fortress. In 1648 it held out against Khmelnytsky's Cossacks, and in 1656 against the Swedes, who had overrun almost all of Poland at the time. Bastion VII is the best-preserved part of the defences. With a guide you walk along a corridor inside the walls, look into the casemates where the cannons stood and come out on top, with a view over the rooftops of the Old Town. Next door, in the former cavalier, there is a hall with souvenir stalls.
Water Market ★The third and quietest of Zamość's market squares. After its redesign it became a pedestrian square with a fountain that glows in colours in the evening. Here you will also find a sculpture from a poem by Bolesław Leśmian: the peasant Bajdała and the spiteful little creature Dusiołek, who would not let him sleep. Leśmian, one of Poland's most famous poets, worked in Zamość as a notary for more than a decade.
Jan Zamoyski Monument and the palace ★The hetman on horseback looks towards the palace where the building of the town began. Jan Zamoyski was chancellor and commander of the armies of the Commonwealth, one of the most powerful men of his day. The monument is 10 metres high and was put up in 2005, on the 400th anniversary of his death. The palace was built from 1579 to Morando's design. In the 19th century it was converted into a military hospital, which is why it looks plainer today than the houses by the square.
Town Park ★The park was laid out between 1919 and 1926 on the former grounds of the fortress, which is why it has hillocks made from ramparts, remnants of the defences and a pond. The paths lead over little bridges and past old walls, and by the water you can easily spot ducks. It is a good place to rest after the walk. A few minutes further on, in Szczebrzeska Street, is the Zamość zoo.
Salt MarketThe small square behind the town hall recalls the days when salt was a precious commodity. Salt brought from Drohobych was sold here, and the square was first mentioned in 1588. Zamość has three market squares set in one line: the Salt Market, the Great Market and the Water Market. It is part of the plan of the architect who laid the town out as if on squared paper.
Toilets / tickets / parking 6
Tourist information in the town hallThe Zamość Tourist Information Centre is in the town hall, at 13 Great Market Square. You can get a town map here and find out when the tours of the bastion and the cellars start. The door leads straight onto the square.
Photo Danutar, CC BY-SA 3.0 pl, Wikimedia Commons1
Photo Niki4wiki, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Photo Pudelek (Marcin Szala), CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Photo Andrzej Otrębski, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Photo Zala, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Photo Sylwpak, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Photo Przemyslaw nowosad, CC BY-SA 3.0 pl, Wikimedia Commons
Photo Maciej Ukleja - [1], CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Photo Andrzej Otrębski, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Photo Aung, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
Photo Alians PL, CC BY-SA 3.0 pl, Wikimedia Commons
Photo M.Bucka, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Photo Henryk Bielamowicz, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons