Bieszczady

The Carpathian Foothills (Podkarpackie) in southeastern Poland border Slovakia to the south and Ukraine to the east. Rzeszów is the capital of the voivodeship, formed in 1999; its largest rivers are the San, Wisłoka, and Wisłok.To the south, the landscape rises to the Bieszczady, where Tarnica, at 1,346 meters, forms the highest point of the voivodeship. Noble residences like Łańcut and Krasiczyn, the fortress city of Przemyśl, and wooden Cerkwie tell of the eventful history of this borderland.

Łańcut Castle (Zamek w Łańcucie), located in the Carpathian Foothills near Rzeszów, is a former magnate residence of the Lubomirski and Potocki families. Stanisław Lubomirski, Voivode of Kraków, had the complex expanded between 1629 and 1641 following plans by Maciej Trapola; after 1783, Izabela Lubomirska converted parts of the fortifications into gardens. From 1816, it belonged to the Potocki family, residing there until 1944. Since September 1944, the castle has served as a museum, and since 2005, the complex and its park have held the status of a Polish historical monument.In addition to the castle rooms, the museum houses the Coach House with a collection of carriages and accessories; the Orchid House in the park; a department for icons and sacred art; and a Judaica collection connected with the Synagogue of Łańcut founded by the Lubomirskis. The approx. 36-hectare landscape park, with an Italian Garden, Rose Garden, and moat, surrounds the castle.

The Pieniny Mountains are a small limestone range on the border with Slovakia, east of the Tatra Mountains. The Polish Pieniny National Park was established in 1932 as Poland's first national park and covers just over 23 square kilometres. The highest peak of the central massif is Trzy Korony (Three Crowns) at 982 metres, from whose viewing platform on Okrąglica you look deep into the valley.The Pieniny Mountains are primarily known for the Dunajec Gorge: The river has carved its way in loops between steep limestone cliffs. On wooden rafts, the region's rafters take visitors from Sromowce through the gorge to Szczawnica or Krościenko. West of this, the castles of Niedzica and Czorsztyn face each other across the Czorsztyn Reservoir.

Lesser Poland (Małopolska) stretches from the Vistula around Krakow (Kraków) to the peaks of the High Tatras on the Slovakian border. Krakow, capital of the Kingdom of Poland until 1596, serves as the administrative and cultural heart of the Voivodeship; its Old Town, the Wieliczka Salt Mine, and the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial together form several UNESCO World Heritage Sites located close by.To the south, the land rises through hills to the Carpathians. Around Zakopane and in the Pieniny, the Goral people define the landscape with their wooden architecture, sheep's cheese, and folk music, and in the villages of Southern Lesser Poland stand Gothic wooden churches that have been World Heritage Sites since 2003.

Zamość is located in southeastern Poland, approximately 240 km from Warsaw and 110 km from Lemberg (Lwiw), and has about 58,000 inhabitants. From 1578, Jan Zamoyski had the city designed by the Venetian architect Bernardo Morando as an ideal Renaissance town, which earned it the nickname "Padua of the North." Since 1992, the Old Town has been a UNESCO World Heritage site.The Old Town has a hexagonal layout: in the west were the Zamoyski family residence and the Academy, and in the east, the burgher town with three squares: the Great Market (Rynek Wielki), the Salt Market, and the Water Market. On the Great Market, with its arcaded houses, stands the Town Hall with its 52-meter-high clock tower. Remains of the fortress are preserved around the Old Town.You can see the main sights in one day. Zamość also serves as an excellent base for excursions into the Roztocze National Park.