The article contains information on the history of Olesko, which, according to the authors of the text, was founded in 1481 by Piotr na Olesku Oleski and Anna of Sienin. The estate was originally in Polish hands. The history and anecdote of the birth of John III Sobieski in Olesko is also mentioned. A detailed description of the Olesko castle follows. (Source: Tygodnik Illustrowany, Warsaw 1860, T:1, p. 128., after: Digital Library of the University of Łódź).

A modernised reading of the text

Town of Olesko.

The town of Olesko was located in the former Ruthenian Voivodship, in the Lviv region; today it belongs to the Zlotyczow district. It was founded in 1481 by Piotr na Olesku Oleski, with his wife Anna of Sienin, on a hill overlooking the surrounding marshes. The Olesko estate, or the duchy as it was then called, comprised five towns and fifty villages, and with the hand of Jadwiga, Piotr's daughter, went to Valentine Tęczyński, the governor of Cracow.

Again, on the distaff side, it passed into the hands of Stanisław Żółkiewski, Hetman of the Kingdom of Poland. In the same way, with Zofia Żółkiewska's hand it went to Jan Daniłowicz, and with Teofila Daniłowiczówna's hand to Jakub Sobieski, at that time king of the Crown. Mr and Mrs Sobieski lived permanently in the Olesko castle, and Jan III was born there. The most accurate testimony to this is recorded on the great missal, located in the Basilian church in Podhorce, in the following words:

"Jan III, King of Poland, Europe's sun, the Ottoman moon's eclipse, the thunderbolt of the eastern countries, received his origin from the noble and ancient Żółkiewski family, granddaughters of the Crown Chancellor and then the Great Hetman. He was born in the castle of Olesko in the year 1624, on the second day of June, on the eve of the holy Trinity, which secret throughout his life was in peculiar honour with him and a special escape and strange help in adventures. This John of the same pair was the third son, and so in the order of the kings of John was the third king.

At the time of his birth, a strange adventure, inconceivable in its miracles, occurred. As soon as the infant was taken away, after being washed, he was placed on a marble table, which at that moment, as if struck by lightning, broke in two. A strange thing made those present sad, and the Reverend Father Ziemiaszko, who was present at the silence, broke it with these words:

"We know that this baby has received glory from the hand of the Almighty, a glory that will have value in the whole of Christianity. However, this glorious glory will fade away in further time, and become harmful to the Polish nation.

The Olesko castle is situated on a high, round mountain, once guarded by ponds and trenches. Two walkways, planted with linden trees, lead up to it, and at the entrance in the courtyard there is a spacious, tile-lined terrace with stables underneath. The castle itself consists of two projecting wings; in the middle of the buildings is a strongly built tower, through which a gate leads inside the castle. There are only a few rooms (accessed via a stone staircase and a corridor), and between them and the one where John III was born, the present owner has turned it into his flat. It is a long quadrangle; opposite the entrance, there is a large niche where the bed used to be, and now there is an entrance to the other rooms, whose beauty and splendour is attested to by the remaining costly reliefs depicting John III and his son James.

A door covered with mosaics leads from there up several stone steps to a round room in the left wing of the chateau. Here, on a black marble table, the baptism of John III took place. This hall seems to have once surpassed the others in ornamentation. Intricately shaped mythological images. In the hall, above the fireplace, there is a statue of Stanisław Żółkiewski. The town of Olesko was once far more populous and extensive; it is said to have held the trade in its hands, which was later snatched away from it by neighbouring Brody.

Several churches adorn this town. The parish church, in the Gothic style with two round chapels, is distinguished by its shapely structure. Above the chapel on the right is a tall, round tower, quite spacious, with rifle towers for defence. In front of the entrance to the church hangs several mammoth bones, found in the influx of soil of the area. The centre of the church is decorated with several beautiful altars and a red marble tombstone, erected in 1610 to Jan Koniecpolski.

The church was built by Piotr Oleski in 1431, but expanded and decorated by Jan Daniłowicz. Okolski writes that after the Tartar invasion of Podkamień, Mrs Kamieniecka, daughter of Jan Siemiński, built the church of N. Panny in Olesko, as a place of worship. Panny in Olesko, as a defensive site, built it. In addition to the parish church, Olesko also has a Capuchin monastery, founded in 1743 by Seweryn Rzewuski, Voivode of Volhynia. E.A. Kuropatnicki writes that it is "the most magnificent in the whole world, as many Capuchin monasteries can have, provided with a library and all needs by a generous founder." There is also a church in the cemetery and three wooden churches.

There used to be Basilian and Basilian nunneries. The town now consists of almost only wooden houses and has a population of about 3,000. The fact that the town was larger is confirmed by a poll tax tariff from 1765, which states that Olesko paid a Jewish poll tax of 1542 zlotys. 1542. The inhabitants used to trade extensively in leather, honey and wax; today Brody has taken everything from them. A dozen or so weavers provide Brody with excellent domestic products. Thus both the castle and the town are in decline; time and circumstances have had a devastating effect on them, and it is well known that they are two great powers.

Around Olesko one can find traces of the Sobieski family everywhere: Janow, Jaworow, Kulikow, Zloczow, Zolkiew - all these are their former estates, they stayed everywhere and left their mementoes. Let us at least try to pass them on to the future.