Zwierzyniec

Zwierzyniec was the administrative seat of the Zamoyski Entail, the largest private estate in Poland, and it kept the look of an estate town rather than a market one: a straight avenue, administrative buildings, a brewery founded in 1806 that still produces, and the works and offices that ran a territory of several hundred thousand hectares. The image everyone photographs is the church of St John Nepomucene, built in 1741-1747 on an island in a pond, white against the water and reached by a bridge, with the woods behind. The name means menagerie - the Zamoyskis kept a hunting park here and the practice is why the forest around was preserved. Zwierzyniec is now the headquarters town of Roztocze National Park, with the visitor centre and the main trailheads, including the route to the Konik horse reserve where the primitive Polish horses are kept in semi-wild conditions.

History

The Zamoyski family founded the settlement in the 16th century. On one of the islands in its artificial lake they built a baroque chapel, now the parish church of St John Nepomucene, renovated and enlarged in the early 1960s and reached by a bridge, and another island holds monuments to the hounds of Queen Marysieńka Sobieska, whose first husband was a Zamoyski (Wikipedia, Zwierzyniec).

What's there

• A church on an island - built 1741-1747, white on the pond, reached by a bridge.
• An estate town plan - avenue, offices and works of the Zamoyski Entail.
• A brewery of 1806 - founded by the estate and still producing.
• The national park base - visitor centre, trailheads and the Konik horse reserve.

When to go

May to September. Half a day.

Things to know

The church interior is often locked outside services. The town fills in July and August as the park gateway. The Konik reserve is a viewing enclosure, not a close encounter. Accommodation books up early in season.

Nearby

Roztocze National Park is around it; Zamosc is east.

Key facts