Located in the central part of Zamość – at the Great Market Square. Its stands out with its Renaissance portal. The house has a long tradition of being used as a pharmacy - from the beginning 17th century until now.

History

The present-day townhouse dates back to the end of the 16th century, when in 1591 it was registered as the property of Hans Kuntz Bartel, a patrician from Gdańsk who had settled in Zamość. In 1603, it became the property of Krzysztof Lechtha, a bricklayer from Germany. Its construction was completed around 1609, when it belonged to the Piechowicz family, professors of the Zamoyski Academy and pharmacists. It remained in the hands of the Piechowicz family until 1658. In the second half of the 17th century, it belonged to the Augustynowicz, Przybysławski, Bieniecki and Kruszyński families; in the 18th - 19th centuries, it was owned by the Wesołowski, Nachtygale and Terlecki families; in the 20th century - by the Kłossowski family, pharmacists; after the Second World War II, it became the property of the Minczewskis. Today, it is a municipal property. Originally, the townhouse was a one-storey building. Its attic was added in the second quarter of the 17th century. After 1841, the second floor was added in the part facing the market square, and after 1887 the attic was removed.

The building was reconstructed in the 19th and 20th centuries. The first major renovation of the building took place in 1937-38 under the supervision of T. Zaremba. The building was renovated again in 1957, when its exterior walls were re-plastered and the roof and the window and door woodwork were refurbished. Between 1973 and 1977, it was thoroughly restored - iron and concrete ceilings were laid, the roof truss, plasters and the rear outbuilding were renovated. In 1999, the façade was renovated. In 2000, the roof covering was replaced.

Description

The townhouse is located in the southern part of the southern block of the eastern frontage of the Great Market Square. It is a corner house, forming one block with the “Patrycjuszowska” townhouse at No. 4 Rynek Wielki and it follows the “third model of Bernardo Morando”. It is named after its 17th century owners: the Piechowicz Family and the profession practised by them. The house has an oriented structure and its front (western) elevation faces the market square. Built on the floor plan of an elongated rectangle with a three-section arcade on the ground floor, at the back, it adjoins the Bazyliańska townhouse no. 28 (previously the outbuilding of the townhouse concerned). The house consists of two parts, with a narrow, long hallway from the north and two rooms facing the south. Inside the hallway, there is a staircase and the former remodelled passage. The layout of the rooms on the first floor is similar to the one on the ground floor. The rooms on the second floor, however, have a different layout and a separate entrance from the staircase. The townhouse is made of brick, plastered, three-story, with cellars. It is topped with a three-piece roof clad with sheet metal.

The elevations have three storeys. Both the front and side elevations are three-axial, the front one is asymmetric and the side one is symmetrical. On the ground floor of the front elevation, there is a three-section arcade. The arches of arcades are semi-circular, with massive impost cornices at the base. The corner arcade is reinforced with a buttress. There is also a stone portal with a semi-circular opening, decorated with the heads of winged angels, rosettes and geometric motifs. The wooden, single-leaf entrance doors are adorned with cast iron ornaments.  The rectangular windows are surmounted with surrounds. On the second floor, there are massive, profiled window headers. Horizontal divisions are achieved by means of profiled cordon and crowning cornices, and the vertical ones by corner pilaster strips and window surrounds. The façade is adorned with mortar-based decorations. On the second and third storeys, the front and the side elevations are painted gray. In contrast, the arcades, pilaster strips, cornices and the surrounds of the window openings are painted white. The original layout of the interiors has been mostly preserved.

The cellars, ground floor and a part of the first floor are covered with barrel-cross and barrel vaults. The remaining interiors on the first floor and the second floor are covered with a flat ceiling. The arcade is cross-vaulted. In the large front chamber on the first floor, there is a polychrome mirror ceiling with rounded corners, as well as polychrome jambs and paneling. The ground-floor interiors are still used as a pharmacy with many antique cabinets, equipment and utensils.

Access to the site is limited.

compiled by Ewa Prusicka, Regional Branch Office of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Lublin,27 November 2016

Bibliography

• Baranowska Z., Sygietyńska H., Kamienice rynku zamojskiego w XVII wieku, /in:/ Zamość i Zamojszczyzna w dziejach i kulturze polskiej, Zamość 1969.
• Czterysta lat Zamościa, J. Kowalczyk (ed.), Wrocław-Łódź 1983
• Herbst S., Zamość, Warsaw 1954
• Kędziora A., Dawna architektura i budownictwo Zamościa, Zamość 1990
• Kowalczyk J., Zamość. Przewodnik, Warsaw 1975.
• Pawlicki M. B., Kamienice mieszczańskie Zamościa. Problemy ochrony, Krakow 1999.
• Zarębska T., Zamość – Miasto idealne i jego realizacja, /in:/ Zamość miasto idealne, ed. J. Kowalczyka, Lublin 1980 
• Record sheet, Residential House  Rynek Wielki 1, formerly Pl. Mickiewicza 1, Zamość, compiled by M. Kowalczyk, L. Lameński, 1997, Archives of the Voivodeship Office for the Protection of Historic Monuments in Lublin, Branch Office in Zamość and the Archives of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Warsaw.