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 Tarnów is an important regional industrial centre and a provincial capital. It is located near the international transit road and by the main railway line running east-west through southern Poland. Tarnów is indeed an old city, its roots go back to the 12th century. The then existing settlement belonged to the Benedictine monastery of Tyniec near Cracow. Later it passed into the hands of the Krakow voivode, whose family took the name of Tarnowski and played an important role in the political life of the Commonwealth at that time. After a few centuries of development came a period of decline, caused by frequent invasions and other misfortunes. The oldest part of Tarnów reveals the familiar medieval layout with an oval centre. The line of some present streets indicate the existence of the former city walls. The centre is occupied by the market square with the Renaissance town hall designed by an Italian architect standing in the middle of it. A Gothic tower is what remains of a still older town hall. The town hall houses the Regional Museum, which holds a historical collection of paintings, armoury, furniture, glass, ceramics, and the like. Off the north-western corner of the market square is the cathedral, originally built in the Gothic style, later thoroughly remodelled. The interior houses several Renaissance and Baroque tombs of eminent Poles, of which one belongs to Hetman Jan Tarnowski. The oldest part of the city has a number of narrow streets lined with period houses. General Józef Bem was born in Tarnów in 1794. He distinguished himself in the November Insurrection of 1830 against Tsarist occupiers and then fought in Hungary during the 'Springtime of the Nations' of 1848. His mausoleum, supported on six pillars above an artificial lake, is in the city park. The environs of Tarnów are also quite interesting. Lovers of history should certainly visit DEBNO with its 15th century castle combining both Renaissance and Gothic architectural elements. Following its post-war restoration, the castle was turned into a museum of interior decorations. Those who indulge in beautiful architecture may pay a visit to the mighty castle of Nowy Wisnicz, one of the most valuable defensive structures in Poland built in the 17th century. Tourists travelling in the region, especially those who proceed along the Cracow-Tarnów-Rzeszow-Przemysl route, must not omit Lancut with its magnificent palace raised in the 17th century as a residence in the palazzo in fortezza style. The palace interiors contain splendid collections of objets d'art of all sorts: furniture, paintings, sculptures, ceramics, arms of various type, silverware, etc. The famous collection of old carriages is kept in one of the outbuildings standing in the palace park. |
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