The article recalls the town of Zloczów and its history, connected with both Red Ruthenia and old Poland. The beginnings of the town, which already belonged to the Sieniński family at the end of the 15th century, are recalled. It is also mentioned as the property of the Daniłłowicz and Sobieski families. (Source: Tygodnik Illustrowany, Warsaw 1862, T:6, pp. 237-238., after: Digital Library of the University of Łódź).

A modernised reading of the text

Zloczów.

This town, today a town in the Zboriv region, formerly belonging to the Lviv region, a Ruthenian voivodeship, which is an agglomeration likewise formerly known as Kusie Czruczyny, lies on a large pond, on a now vast plain surrounded by hills rising gracefully and picturesquely. The most beautiful view of the whole area, and the town on it, is when you drive down the road from Ternopil, which runs through the Podil highlands, descending lower and lower towards Zloczow, among the scattered cottages, mills and groves.

As early as the 15th century, Zloczów belonged, together with numerous estates, to a prominent and powerful family of Sienieńskis, of whom Stanislaw, a native of Olesko, received from Sigismund I various privileges for Zloczów under the Magdeburg Law, as well as trade fairs and other privileges. In 1532, Stanislaw sold the town with a fortress and several villages to Jędrzej Górka. It then passed to the Daniłłowicz family, from whom it was purchased around 1630 by Jakub Sobieski, father of John III.

John III, who decorated, fortified and encircled this castle with Turkish and Tartar prisoners of war, on whom there was never any shortage of this pagan conqueror, who finally stayed there frequently, attached the charm of his name to the walls of this castle for eternity, and as long as only one stone remains from it, as long as even the mountain bearing it remains, this place will always be honoured for us with the memory of this our hero.

Returning to the reminders of the Zloczow Castle that have been preserved in our history, let us say that in 1671 John III, going on a Turkish expedition, stood here at the end of October; the Brandenburg Elector's reinforcements also arrived, numbering 1260 men. At a war council held here, the king decided to postpone the coronation for a longer period of time, after which he himself departed for Podolia, while the queen stayed in the castle of Zloczow and waited there until the spring for the return of her royal spouse.

In the same year, 1671, Stanislaw Jabłonowski, Voivode of the Ruthenia Province, defeated the Tartars, Turkish allies fighting against Sobieski, near Zloczów. John III not only decorated the castle, but also fortified the town, and during his reign the burghers of Zloczów did well, for whom he lent his protection and who were very wealthy, although they remained in constant fear, as the Tatars ravaged the whole area several times, and in 1690 they almost captured the king himself, who was staying in the Zloczów castle.

A legend, which usually likes to add its romantic tidings to the historical monuments, tells that there were huge underground dungeons under the Zloczov Castle, used for excursions, which were supposed to be half a mile long and even went under the pond. After his father's death, Prince Jakub sometimes stayed in the castle, and in 1732 he hosted the famous husband of his time, Tomasz Wolski, a great traveller and brave admiral of the papal fleet.

After the death of the prince, the Zloczów estates passed to the related Radziwiłł princes; the castle, abandoned by its hosts and guests, now stood alone and began to deteriorate, and due to political changes in 1772 the town's inhabitants, formerly engaged in trade and commerce, became very poor. The castle passed into other hands, and a greedy one of the newer heirs replaced the Sobieski coat of arms with the famous shield with the coat of arms of his poorly known and undeserving family.

In addition to the disbanded Piarist congregation in Zloczow, there are also the parish church, the Reformati monastery and the Basilian church outside the town in a beautiful location, two stone churches, the parish church of the Armenians, who used to have a whole quarter of the town here, and a Jewish synagogue.