Zamo?? : Poland
Zamo?? is a town in southeastern Poland with 66,633 inhabitants (2004), situated in the Lublin Voivodship (since 1999), previously capital of Zamo?? Voivodship (19751998). About 20 kilometres from the town is the Roztocze National Park.
The city is located on the broad gauge railway line linking former Soviet Union with Upper Silesian coal and sulphur mines as well as less than 60 kilometres from the border crossings to Ukraine. On December 14, 1992, the historical city centre was inscribed onto UNESCO World Heritage List.
History
Zamo?? was founded in year 1580 by the Chancellor and Hetman (head of the army of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) Jan Zamoyski on the trade route linking western and northern Europe with the Black Sea. Modelled on the Italian trading cities and built during the Baroque period by the architect Bernardo Morando, a native of Padua, Zamo?? remains a perfect example of a Renaissance town of the late 16th century which retains its original layout and fortifications and a large number of buildings blending Italian and central European architectural traditions. The Old City quarter of Zamo?? has been placed on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.
In 1942, Zamo?? County, due to its fertile black soil, was chosen for further German colonisation in General Government as part of Generalplan Ost. Polish farmers were expropriated and forcibly removed from the farms, Polish population expelled amid great brutality, farms were handed over to German settlers, but few Germans were settled in the area before 1944. Children were taken separately and after racial scrutiny send over to Germany to be raised in German families.
