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THE FORTRESS YESTERDAY
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The eastern front of the fortress was not protected with natural obstacles and, therefore, was difficult to defend.
The view in front of astion VII in the direction of Bastion I, along the curtain, on the watercolor by Jan Paweł Lelewel
It was here, south of Bastion VII that the Lwowska Gate built after 1591 by Bernardo Morando was situated. Its final form it dates back to the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries. A gate was always the weakest and the most vulnerable element of fortifications. Consequently, at the beginning of the 18th century this part of the fortress had to be provided with external fortifications, i.e. an earthen embankment with two redans*, tenaille* and a demi-bastion*, located about 400 m east of the town. These elements stretching farthest of all Zamość fortifications would mark a new trend in the construction of fortresses as the so-called “fortified camps”. It is a pity that the local military architects failed to follow this direction. At the time of Napoleon, these fortifications, in spite of being shown on maps, no longer had any military significance. Troops of the Duchy of Warsaw made a lunette* in the foreground of curtain wall VI-VII, a ravelin* and a redan* in front of the Lwowska Gate. An additional counterguard* joined to an embankment and to the said ravelin appeared in front of Bastion I. In the central part of curtain wall VII-I there was a postern* ensuring communication of the defenders with external fortifications. At the time of the Congress Kingdom of Poland, about 1820, General J. Mallet-Malletski decided to wall up the gate and build a new one at the site of the former postern. This is how the New Lwowska Gate came into being. Soon it was shielded with a remodelled redan*; at the same time the counterguard* in front of Bastion I was expanded and a caponier* was built in the moat to increase its defensive potential. These fortifications existed till the time of fortress liquidation. On the side of the town, the Old and New Lwowska Gates were linked with a stretch of casemates, open to the street and situated at the foot of fortress embankment. In 1937 Jan Zachwatowicz started the reconstruction of the Old Lwowska Gate; disrupted by the war, the works were completed in 1979.

  • The view of the Fortress of Zamość from the north-east side according to watercolor by Jan Paweł Lelewel. It visualizes the plan by J. Mallet-Malletski.

  • Curtain I-VII with gates: Old Lwowska Gate and New Lwowska Gate on the building plan.

  • The view in front of astion VII in the direction of Bastion I, along the curtain, on the watercolor by Jan Paweł Lelewel.