History

The townhouse stands on a plot of land whose shape has remained unchanged from the mid-14th century, when a new, regular street grid was created at the initiative of King Casimir the Great. During that period, the lot is believed to have been occupied by a wooden house, possibly featuring a masonry basement. It is traditionally believed that in the 16th century, the land was owned by a local brewer, Węgier Lazarczyk. Somewhere between the late 16th century and the early 17th century, a new, masonry edifice was erected, with the remnants of the old building being incorporated into the new structure. About 300 years later, the building was subjected to a comprehensive redesign, resulting in the addition of a variety of features, including the new eastern and southern façades bearing the hallmarks of Neoclassical design. The house is still officially referred to as the Węgier Lazarczyk Townhouse, even though most know it as the House under the Crackow, a name given after a medieval brick with an imprint of a shoe was found on the site. In the second half of the 1990s, numerous renovation works were carried out, with the building being adapted to serve as a hotel and restaurant – a function which it still performs to this day.

Description

The townhouse stands on the south-eastern corner of the market square and is the easternmost house in the southern frontage thereof. Its most distinctive features are the broad, three-bay arcade supported by sturdy pillars as well as the arched outline of the eastern façade which follows the curve of Mariacka street leading up to the nearby cathedral. The house is a two-storey brick building with a habitable attic illuminated by a series of dormer windows. The structure of the house stands on a complex system of cellars which may be even older than the building itself. The façades, redesigned in the 19th/20th century, feature decorative rustication at the ground-floor level – a typical feature of many townhouses in Sandomierz; in addition, the façades are also partitioned with plain cornices and adorned with profiled window headers and sills. The windows are framed with plasterwork surrounds. A massive brick and stone buttress supports the corner of the townhouse facing the courtyard. The ground-floor level walls, concealed beneath the arcade facing the market square, feature a beautiful original arrangement of exposed bricks known as the Gothic (Polish) bond. The arcade is covered with an aesthetically pleasing double barrel vault. Similar vaulted ceilings can also be found inside the building. The cellars, on the other hand, feature vaulted ceilings of the barrel and sail type. Inside, a most intriguing staircase positioned opposite the main entrance can be admired, featuring a decorative railing supported by turned wooden balusters. The entrance itself is framed with a plain surround. The wooden ceiling in the large first-floor hall is a later addition, even though its structure incorporates, among others, period ceiling beams salvaged from other houses. Another notable feature of the first-floor level of the townhouse is a Renaissance Revival paired window, its mullion adorned with a small engaged column. As a whole, the townhouse remains an easily recognizable landmark and a distinctive feature of the market square frontage.

The building is accessible to visitors.

Compiled by Aleksandra Ziółkowska, 07-12-2015

Bibliography

• Record sheet of monuments of architecture, Sandomierz, Dom mieszkalny, tzw. Kamienica Węgra Lazarczyka (Sandomierz, residential building known as the Węgier Lazarczyk Townhouse), prepared by J. Zub, 1997, Archive of the Regional Monuments Protection Office in Kielce, Sandomierz Branch Office.
• Buliński M., Monografia miasta Sandomierza, Warsaw 1879.
• Dzieje Sandomierza, vol. 1-4. H. Samsonowicz (ed.), Warsaw 1993-1994.
• Katalog zabytków sztuki w Polsce, vol. III, issue 11, Warsaw 1962.