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Renaissance route in Malopolska

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Tarnów. Complex of the Renaissance Tenement Houses in the Old Town

Tarnów. Complex of the Renaissance Tenement Houses in the Old Town

Tarnów. Complex of the Renaissance Tenement Houses in the Old Town

Tarnów. Complex of the Renaissance Tenement Houses in the Old Town

Tarnów. Mikolajowski House

Tarnów. Mikolajowski House

Mikolajowski House (plac Katedralny 6)

One of the oldest and best preserved townhouses in Tarnów with original Renaissance stonework around the windows and stucco decoration characteristic of the period. The house is part of a compact urban development. It stands over its cellars on the north-western corner of the square. In 1527, its owners, Barbara and Jan Mikołajowski, entrusted the property to the vicars of the collegiate church. Today Dom Mikołajowski belongs to the Diocesan Museum.

Florencki House (ul. Zydowska 20)

Literally 'Florentine House', the Dom Florencki in ul. Żydowska 20 is a Renaissance masonry structure, built over cellars and with a utility attic, built on an irregular plan. It is covered with a gable roof with ceramic tiles. The upper section of the façade overhangs on wood brackets connected with arches. The house was probably built in the 16th century by combining two earlier ones set up by the defence wall. In the 17th century it became the property of Jewish owners, who settled in large numbers in this part of the city. Today, the building is home to the Tarnów office of the Polish Tourism Association (PTTK).

Houses in the Market Square, Rynek 19, 20, and 21)

The three most conspicuous houses in the Market Square were built in the 16th century as single-storey buildings, with ground floor arcades, which were surmounted by parapet walls. The interiors of nos 20 and 21 were connected in 1780. They are currently the headquarters of the Regional Museum in Tarnów.

Renaissance was the time when the bourgeoisie flourished in the cities of Poland. This finds a reflection in city architecture: both public - town halls, cloth halls, stalls, and sacred buildings - and private - city residences and townhouses. They are characterised by high artistic merit, care for the aesthetics and the mostly sgraffito, painted, and stone decoration. Renaissance synagogues were erected by Jews living in Polish cities. Today, all these structures are testimony to the golden age of Polish culture and art.