Zwierzyniec : Poland
Zwierzyniec nad Wieprzem is a town in the Lublin Voivodship, Zamosc County, Poland.
The name comes from the Polish word ‘Zwierzyniec’ meaning ‘animal park’. The ‘nad Wieprzem’ means on the river Wieprz.
The Zwierzyniec settlement was established in the 16th century by the Zamoyski family. One of the features here is an artificial lake with a number of small islands – one of them contains monuments of the hounds belonging to the Polish Queen Marysienka Sobieska (nee Zamoyska).
On another island the Zamoyskis built a chapel, which became later the main church of the local catholic parish. It is now known as the Saint John Nepomouk’s parish church – renovated and expanded in early 1960s by Father Dutkowski. The access to the chapel island is now via a bridge.
Zwierzyniec is the northermost town of the Roztocze National Park. The park comprises some of the last remaining sections of the primordial forest of Central Europe, especially spectacular stand of ancient beech trees (Bukowa Gora).
In the WWII the Nazis set up here a transit camp for the detention and further processing of folks that came to their attention (mostly sent to the death camps).
