The text describes the Bar and the history of one of the most famous fortresses of the Wild Fields. The town itself is also mentioned, with the construction of, among other things, a female and male grammar school, and a Gothic-style church (thanks to the efforts of Fr Szczawiński). It is mentioned that the walls that once surrounded the Dominican monastery still rise in the midst of the town. The text goes on to recall the history of Bar from the earliest times (Source: "Ziemia. Tygodnik Krajoznawczy Ilustrowany', Warsaw 1911, no. 43, pp. 4-6, after: Wielkopolska Biblioteka Cyfrowa).

A modernised reading of the text

Bar

As many times as I come to Bar, as many times I bow my head in humility before this so old reminder of our past, witness to so many battles, invasions and plunders, where every stone, every brick seems to say:

"Look, we have survived the centuries, streams of blood flowed under our walls in defence of faith and Christianity; the Turk, the Tartar sharpened their teeth here in vain, we stood firm as a bulwark".

It was here that the country made its last efforts to break the chains imposed on it: it was here that the fearless knights of Mary emerged, who fought in the name of the fatherland, their fame still resounding everywhere today. The more I bow my head before this old relic, the more it is dear to my heart. Even today, after so many centuries, it still shows the image of its bygone past; the walls of the fortress, or castle, have survived almost everywhere, and their perimeter shows what a vastness it was: more than five morgues of land lay beneath them, the double forts protected from attack, the mighty fortified towers, like watchful sentinels, sowed fear and trepidation in the invaders, the ponds surrounding it, in case of need, flooded it from everywhere and became a grave for the attackers.

It was one of our most powerful borderland fortresses. And it must have been crowded and bustling, as such a fortress could not be defended by just any crew. There were calls, bugles, orders, commands, and during battles the voice of the cannons echoed with the bass to the moans of the wounded and the din of battle. Where nowadays groves of lilacs and jasmines grow over the ramparts themselves, there were cannons, whose mouths would burst into flames and death if necessary, stopping the advance of hordes and invaders.

Today, the site of the old castle has been transformed, thanks to the efforts of the former mayor, Mr. Szpakowski, into a very attractive town garden, planted with trees, leveled the hollows, made paths and plazas for children's play, the more decrepit walls were fenced in to protect them from vandalism, in a word, a garden full of air and greenery was created, In short, a garden full of air and greenery has been created, whose foothills reflect the remnants of the surrounding waters, where the weary resident, after a day's work, finds rest and fresh air under the shade of the, admittedly still young, trees, and where the children delight in playing in the large squares.

Order and cleanliness are exemplary, and when you sit on a bench, when you see these lawns and hear the bustle, chatter and laughter of children playing, you can't help but compare today with the past. According to local legend, the power of the various abundances was sunk in the waters surrounding the fortress, protecting it from plunder and robbery. There were those who wanted to clean these ponds, which were already overgrown, with the condition that whatever they found in them should be given back to them - they refused, and today, unfortunately, the surface of the waters is shrinking more and more, and in the near future, the former defence of Bar will become a burn pit, under donkey reeds and rushes; which is a pity, because both the view and health will suffer.

On the other hand, the town is slowly improving: there are several schools, a women's gymnasium, a large men's real school, a town school, a school named after Pushkin, a parish school, and apparently a men's gymnasium is to be built. One of the town's ornaments is the newly built Gothic-style church, finished a few years ago thanks to the foresight and evangelical perseverance of its former pastor, the late Father Szczawiński.

Seeing that the former church did not meet the needs of the large parish, he knocked, travelled and asked, until, with great faith, though without much money, he began to build the temple that rises today, a reduced copy of the Kyiv church. In the midst of the city, the walls of the former Dominican monastery, now the rectory and the garden of one of the Eastern Rite churches, still rise, covering more than five morgans. There are three Eastern Rite churches: Ouspensky, seeming to be a Carmelite church, Preobrazhensky, staged from the Dominican walls, and a monastery of nuns, once Carmelite nuns. Telephones have recently been introduced, and soon the city will be enlightened by electricity, so there is progress too.

The old houses, spindly, low, with thick walls, are slowly disappearing, giving way to more modern buildings, with dungeons that have held many a barrel, many a vat of honey; at one time the Bar was famous for its meads. Today it is still possible, albeit with great difficulty, to get several years' worth of honey from a merchant I know, but it is rara avis. I remember one of those houses - Szeliryński's, a former inn, where in one room there was an inscription on an old, very greenish painted panel: "All for the Fatherland 1763".

No one knew who had done it, or what it was in memory of; two years ago the room had been converted into a shop and the old panel had disappeared, which I greatly regretted, as I would have purchased it as a souvenir. We do not know when it was founded, but it dates back a long time; it is first mentioned in 1445, when Olbracht of Ilov signed as a witness when Svidrigelo granted a foundation privilege to the Dominicans of Komieniec, which proves that already at that time Rov was a significant settlement, if its owner was a witness at the granting of the royal privilege.

In 1435, 4,000 fines were bequeathed to Jan Kitowież; however, it soon changed hands again when in 1443 it was given to Rej from Szumsk by royal grant, who, according to Dlugosz, was taken prisoner together with his family after being attacked by the Tartars in the then castle (castellum). In 1456, the ditch was transferred by right of purchase from Rej to Odrowaz, the voivode of Rus. At the end of the 15th century, the ditch was subject to frequent Tartar attacks. It was not until the reign of the Jagiellons that the ditch was completely transformed and, bought by the king from the Odrowazs and given to Queen Bona, began to rise.

The old name of the Ditch was changed to Bar by the Queen as a reminder of the principality of Bar she owned in Italy, which belonged to her after the Sforza family. Graces and privileges are showered down, the old walls are raised and extended, crowds of craftsmen work day and night to build a new fortified castle under the administration of Wojciech Stanechowski, the main administrator of the new royal domain, and these were not small estates as they included numerous villages and vast areas of land. Many of today's citizens own villages that used to belong to the key of Barski: The Krasowskis, the Czajkowskis, the Czerwińskis, the Majewski's, the Jałtuszko Society, the Lewicki's and the writer of these words, and today, although so reduced, Bar still owns 4,000 tithes, almost 7,000 morgens; what an area it used to be, if its crumbs and fractions now make up such an incalculable fortune.

For better defence, the castle was surrounded by a triple thick wall covered with earth, which made the Bar an unconquerable fortress for those times; moreover, artificial ponds prevented access. With the fortification of the castle so defensible, numerous hosts of settlers flocked to its wings, creating new settlements in the foothills. This is how Bar Polski, or Lacki, and Bar Ruski stood, populated by fugitives from the former Ditch, settled in Zinkov. On the other side of the Ditch (today part of the city), Tartars brought from Volhynia were settled; this settlement was called Czeremiszy (today Czemerysy).

Each of these settlements had its own privileges granted by Bona. The bar rose quickly and the population apparently grew strongly, with the building of a parish church from the queen's funds in 1550, St Anne's church in 1598, a Dominican monastery in 1607, and a Carmelite, Jesuit and Carmelite nuns' monastery in 1614. None of these remains today. In 1811, a new Catholic church was built, now rebuilt as a Gothic temple. The new town grew in wealth and prosperity. Merchants flocked in with all sorts of goods needed by the inhabitants and the numerous congregation.

The famous Bar dungeons were filled with excellent honey, famous throughout the region. The Magdeburg laws gave the inhabitants various privileges; freed from taxes and rents, they also grew in wealth and affluence, from which a very prosperous bourgeoisie was formed over time. To this day, the bourgeoisie of Bar sometimes benefits from old privileges, approved by the Russian government. However, the town also suffered numerous invasions and attacks: more than once a Cossack raid and a Tartar chambul chipped away at its walls, and the Treaty of Bucharest in 1672 placed Bar under Turkish rule, which lasted 27 years.

It seems strange, however, that the Turks left no trace of their rule, perhaps only the facade of the former Dominican monastery has traces of their architecture in the entrance gate of the surrounding walls, perhaps there was their temporary temple converted from a monastery? However, it is difficult to say for sure, because even the legends about it do not exist. King John Casimir donated Barshchyna to Hetman Wychowski to quell a Cossack rebellion. It passed from Wychowski to the Lubomirski family, and later to the Poniński family.

One of them, having accumulated huge debts, had to give the estate to the exdivision, from which numerous civic estates were created. Today, the town of Bar is the owner of the rest of the state, an area of 4,000 tithes, as I mentioned above. One part of the former Barshchyna, Dashkovce, also has its own legend and history. Donated to Queen Bona, they gained her favour because of their healthiness and picturesque location.

In the midst of a beautiful forest, she had a summer palace built near a linden tree, which, according to legend, served as an oratory for a hermit. In 1540 (?), on the Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi, Bona granted Alexei Hryczewski the privilege to settle in Dashkovce for faithfully guarding her summer residence, with the proviso that his sons should serve in the Bar castle.

Traces of the palace have long since disappeared, the former forest was turned into a park, but the old linden tree, which is still sprinkled with flowers every spring, has survived the centuries and will probably survive many more, firm and healthy. The further history of Daszkowiec is the same as that of Bar; after the exdivision in 1772 it passed to the Czarnieckis, then to the Mysłowskis, and later - until now - to the Pruszyński family.