Tarnów na przełomie wieków

”Tarnów is situated on a hill at the foot of Podkarpacie. A grand gothic cathedral and a renaissance city hall, ornamented with a beautiful attic and sculptures of Italian master craftsman, Padovano, crown the top of the hill. The old town with its arcades, narrow streets, lanes and Grand Steps, remains of a tower and the city walls in Wałowa Street, remnants of Bożnica, the Jewish synagogue – are all very Italian in their style. The heraldic arms of the town are crescent and a star. Tarnów is a very friendly, warm place. Its Italian climate lacks just an azure sea with the waves crashing at the foot of St. Martin’s Mountain, topped with the ruins of Tarnowski family castle.” Roman Brandstaetter. For several centuries the travellers visiting Tarnów praised the beautiful location of the city. Irrespective of whether it was a traveller form Germany, Hungary, the Czech Republic or a fellow countryman from a different part of Poland – the city made the same astonishing impression. Located relatively close to the former capital of Poland – royal Cracow – on the trail leading east to rich Lvov and further to Kiev and the Crimea, Tarnów was – it can be said – almost the last truly European station for the travellers heading east. The East that tempted with its riches but also thrilled, as it was little known. Here, as early as the 14th century, the West met the East. The influences of Cracow and Lvov on the urban architecture of the 14th c. were almost equal. While architecture is the work of man, the beauty of the surroundings is the work of nature. The harmony of both is the ultimate goal. Historical records describe Tarnów as such a place.