The text describes the village of Podhorce. The main part is devoted to the history of the place, the most important buildings and remnants of Polish interference in the village are listed, including the parish church dedicated to the Elevation of the Holy Cross, founded by the Rzewuskis of Lubomirski. Also mentioned is the Orthodox church founded by Helena, wife of Casimir the Just, or the monastery wing built by Anatole Wodziński. The text is accompanied by relevant photographs and continues in subsequent issues (Source: "Ziemia. Tygodnik Krajoznawczy Ilustrowany" Warsaw 1914, no. 2, pp. 7-11; no. 3, pp. 4-6; no. 4, 5-6; no. 6, pp. 6-7; no. 7, pp. 4-6; no. 8, pp. 6-8, after: Wielkopolska Biblioteka Cyfrowa).

Modernised reading of the text

Podhorce.

The day was exceptionally bright. The sun dropped its black mask for a moment to appear more cheerful, to make our intended trip to Podhorce more pleasant, as it were. All of nature, which had been longing for warmth and light, was then revived with a strange radiance and freshness. I felt a sense of reassurance in my heart, and my joy was all the greater when, having left the Sass family behind, I was already travelling along the empty, beaten track towards Podhorzec.

My God, how many historical memories, how many triumphs and fame began to float through my mind. This is where Żółkiewski and Sobieski used to walk, this is where numerous battles with Turks and Tartars took place, this is where the land, soaked with blood, witnessed great victories, rejoiced with its heirs in their valour, shared their laurels. And when the war stopped, it gladly spent what it could, fed thousands of people, so that the stronger ones could face the invaders in the nearest need... Today the rightful heirs sleep hard in her bosom, and she dreams of their battles. Beautiful is this land...

Starting from Sassow, a small Jewish town, full of potholes and ditches in the market square, never seemingly swept, dark when the moon doesn't shine because it doesn't have a single lantern, but boasting the name of the residence of the miraculous rabbi, one goes uphill all the way to Podhorzec. The surroundings are very beautiful, picturesque, the slopes of the mountains are covered with forests; at the foot of the hills you can usually see large, deep ditches, which involuntarily leads to the assumption that there used to be some trenches, encampments or bloody battles. Every now and then you have the impression that an enemy is leaning out of the back of the forest thicket, as if waiting for you with a large army. The wind, swaying the tops of the trees, gives you some strange, indescribable feeling. The figures of great heroes stand in your memory... you begin to live, to dream, to look at them and to rejoice that victory is certain in their hands... You hear the sound of battle drums, the growl of drums, the clash of sabres, the thud of horses... all of a sudden history comes to life... and you live, you live humming and soaring... You weave a golden thread of dreams, triumphs and glory...

And then, suddenly, a terrible reality wakes up: it is the sound of a bell rattling at the drawbar of a Jewish vehicle, passing you on the road. A Jewish ferryman is carrying a miracle-working rabbi somewhere to his unfortunate fellow worshippers, waiting for a miracle... Reality says... There are many such Jewish ferrymen here, starting from Zloczów itself. The sons of Judah do their best here, transporting visitors and tourists, sometimes several in one lousy lendar.This is one of their main sources of income. In addition to this, they are also involved in petty trade and industry (they make liturgical vestments for their fellow worshippers). The Sass town is completely controlled by them.

The Podhorské forests cover a large tract of land (about 3,000 square metres), stretching in an arc from the south-east and south-west to Podhorky itself. They are mostly beech forests. Giant linden trees are often found here, mostly shading the remains of fortifications and trenches. Characteristically, local legends, not only in the Zlocow district but also in the Zhovkva district, attribute Sobieski's particular fondness for growing these trees; wherever you meet more lime trees, you are bound to hear: "King Jan planted them with his own hands. He was a good farmer..." You are overwhelmed by reverie and transported back to those times...

About 2 km from Podhorzec, on the southern side, there is a high hill, covered with huge lime trees. It has a strange appearance. One part of the hill looks like a watchtower, and on it, until recently, stood a tall cross. Local legend has it that an Orthodox church once existed here, but that it collapsed into the ground on the day of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary for the sins of the inhabitants. The further part of the hill, surrounded by ramparts and ditches, forms a fairly regular quadrangle and again suggests that a defensive trench once existed here. The northern side is formed by a huge slope, which is difficult to descend. Podhorce is visible in the distance, the church comes to the fore.

Podhorce - a village in the Złoczów district, in Eastern Galicia, 17 km northeast of Złoczów, 13 km from Olesko, about 17 km from Brody. To the north of Podhorzec lies Podobocz, to the west Hucisko Olesko, Olesko, Chwastów and Zaborce, to the south Bohemia and Kadlubiska, to the east Jasionów and Majdan. The northern part of the village lies in the basin of the Dnieper River via the Lobodov or Lahodka, a tributary of the Styr River (Black Sea drainage basin); the southern part lies in the basin of the Vistula River via one of the arms of the Buzhko Oleski, a tributary of the Bug River. This arm originates at the foot of the hill on the so-called Pleśnisek, next to the Basilian monastery, and flows through a narrow valley along the Złoczów road, in a south-easterly direction to Hucisko Oleskie, where it joins the arm coming from the north-west from under the foot of the Olesko hill.

The main European watershed almost winds through the middle of the village. It is formed by a part of the Voroniolek range, rising up to 403 m above sea level. The village buildings lie partly on the top of the hill (300 m), forming a large plateau, partly on its northern slope. On the northern edge of the plateau slope lies the castle, and opposite it, on the south side, the church. At a distance of 2 km to the south-east of the village, there is a brick church and a Basilian monastery, surrounded on three sides by higher hills and commonly called "Podhoretsk monastery on Plesnisko".There are several parts of the village: Lasowiki, Monasterek, Na Klasztornem, Na Bialy, Plesnisko, Zwierzyniec, Zatrudy or Stawki.

The inhabitants of the mountain top differ in some respects from those of the hillside. The former are mostly Roman Catholics, speak and learn Polish, dress more in the urban style and are mostly engaged in crafts; the latter, the so-called "sielanie", profess to be Polish. Others, the so-called "sielanie", follow the Greek rite, learn in Ruthenian and still like to wear the old, low-cost clothes (trousers made of white cloth of their own production, shirts long up to the knees made of the same material, let out, belted with a leather belt, tied up at the neck with a ribbon or fastened with a button, a high black sheepskin cap on their head). They are mainly engaged in farming.

The village is built on both sides of the road; the cottages are low, usually with one room and a chamber; the stable and the rest of the buildings are usually located behind the cottage; sometimes the stable is adjacent to the chamber. The windows are sometimes small, with two sashes; the roof is covered with straw. On the roof there are "goats" holding up the ridge, the walls are simply painted with lime....stoi among the trees, small but highly decorative. The barrel-shaped structure (reminiscent of St Peter's Church in Rome) is very impressive on the outside. The main exhibition is decorated by two rows of huge columns made of hewn stone, about a metre in diameter, ending in Corinthian heads decorated with acanthus leaves. 8 columns make up the first row, the 6 rear columns completing the magnificent whole make up the second row. On the sides, the same half-columns, adjoining the walls, support the walls. Above the columns rises a triangular pediment with 8 patron saints of the Rzewuski family in the attic, with semi-circular windows.

The entrance to the church has an inscription carved in the stone threshold, consisting of the following letters:

W. W. K.

H. P.

K. F.

F. R. P. 1765.

The interior decoration of the church was done by Polish artists Smuglewicz and Czechowicz. The latter in particular left a great number of works in Podhorce, having resided in the castle from 1762. The main altar contains a painting of St Joseph and the Elevation of the Holy Cross, probably by Czechowicz. The barrel vault is decorated with painted vases with flowers, and the walls are similarly painted. The interior of the church is the interior of a cylinder, or drum. Among the interesting monuments we should mention the old round wooden balustrade and the baptistery. Instead of a tower, a cupola rises at the crossing, as is usual in the Renaissance.

To this day, cost estimates and accounts of its construction, led by the founder himself, can be found in the Podhoretto archives. The church is beautifully presented from the side of the castle, separated from it by a courtyard and guesthouse.The day was exceptionally bright. The sun dropped its black mask for a moment to appear more cheerful, to make our intended trip to Podhorzec more pleasant, as it were. All of nature, which had been longing for warmth and light, was then revived with a strange radiance and freshness. I felt a sense of reassurance in my heart, and my joy was all the greater when, having left behind the Sasses, I was already travelling along the empty, beaten track towards Podhorzec. My God, how many historical memories, how many triumphs and ponds began to float through my mind. This is where Żółkiewski and Sobieski used to walk, where numerous battles with Turks and Tartars took place, where the land, soaked with blood, witnessed great victories, rejoiced with its heirs in their valour, shared their laurels.

And when the war stopped, it gladly spent what it could, fed thousands of people, so that the stronger ones could face the invaders in the nearest need... Today the rightful heirs sleep hard in her bosom, and she dreams of their battles. This land is beautiful... Starting from Sassown, a small Jewish town, full of potholes and ditches in the market square, never seems to be swept, dark when the moon doesn't shine because it doesn't have a single lantern, but boasting the name of the residence of the miraculous rabbi, one goes uphill all the way to Podhorzec.

The surroundings are very charming, picturesque, the slopes of the mountains are covered with forests; at the foot of the hills you can usually see large, deep ditches, which involuntarily lead to the assumption that there used to be some kind of trenches, camps, like bloody battles. Every now and then you have the impression that an enemy is leaning out of these forest thickets, as if he is watching out for you with a large army. The wind, swaying the tops of the trees, gives you some strange, indescribable feeling. The figures of great heroes stand in your memory... You begin to live, to dream, to look at them and to rejoice that victory is certain in their hands... You hear the sound of battle drums, the growl of drums, the clash of sabres, the whirr of horses... all of a sudden history comes alive... and you live, you live humming and high spiritedly... You weave a golden thread of dreams, triumphs and glory... And then suddenly the terrible reality wakes up: It is the sound of a bell at the drawbar of a Jewish vehicle, passing you on its way, a Jewish ferryman carrying a miracle-working rabbi to unfortunate co-religionists waiting for a miracle... Reality says... There are many such Jewish ferrymen here, starting from Zloczów itself. The sons of Judah scrounge around these parts, transporting visitors and tourists, sometimes several in one licentious fendara. This is one of their main sources of income.

In addition to this, they are also involved in petty trade and industry (they make liturgical vestments for their fellow worshippers). The Sass town is completely controlled by them. The Podhorce forests cover a large tract of land (about 3,000 square metres), stretching in a hatch from the south-east and south-west to Podhorce itself. They are predominantly beech forests.

Giant linden trees can often be found here, shading the remains of entrenchments and entrenchments for the most part. It is characteristic that local legends, not only in the Zlocow district, but also in the Zhovkva district, attribute to Sobieski a special fondness for growing these trees; wherever you meet more lime trees, you will surely hear: "King Jan planted them with his own hands. He was a good farmer..." You are overwhelmed with reverie, transported back to those times... About 2 km from Podhorzec, on the southern side, there is a high hill, covered with huge lime trees. It has a strange appearance. One part of the hill looks like a watchtower, on which until recently a tall cross stood.

Local legend has it that an Orthodox church once existed here, but that it caved in for the sins of its inhabitants on the day of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary. Virgin Mary. The further part of the hill, surrounded by ramparts and ditches, forms a fairly regular quadrangle and again suggests that a defensive trench once existed here. The north side is formed by a huge slope, which is difficult to descend. We are finally approaching our destination. Podhorce is visible in the distance, the church comes to the fore. Podhorce is a village in the Złoczów district, in Eastern Galicia, 17 km north-east of Złoczów, 7 km from Olesko, about 17 km from Brody.

To the north of Podhorzec lies Podobocz, to the west Hucisko Olesko, Olesko, Chwastów and Zaborca, to the south Bohemia and Kadłubiska, to the east Jasionów and Majdan. The northern part of the village lies in the basin of the Dnieper River by way of the i midslope, or Lahodka, a tributary of the Styr River (a catchment area of the Black Sea); the southern part lies in the basin of the Vistula River by way of one of the arms of the Buzek Oleski, a tributary of the Bug River. This arm originates at the foot of the hill on the so-called Pleśnisek, next to the Basilian monastery, and flows through a narrow valley along the Złoczów road, in a south-easterly direction to Hucisko Oleskie, where it joins the arm coming from the north-west from under the foot of the Olesko hill. The main European watershed almost winds through the middle of the village.

It is formed by a part of the Voronian range, rising to 403 m above sea level. The village buildings lie partly on the top of the hill (300 m), forming a large plateau, partly on its northern slope. On the northern edge of the plateau's slope lies the castle, with the church opposite it on the southern side. At a distance of 2 km to the south-east of the village, there is a brick church and a Basilian monastery, surrounded on three sides by higher hills and commonly called the "Podhoretsk monastery on Plesnisko".

There are several parts of the village, such as Lasowiki, Monasterek, Na Klasztornem, Na Bialy, Pleśnisko, Zwierzyniec, Zatrudy, Stawki. The inhabitants of the mountain top differ in some respects from those of the hillside. The former are mostly Roman Catholics, speak and learn Polish, dress more in the urban style and are mostly engaged in crafts; the latter, the so-called "sielanie", follow the Polish language. Others, the so-called "sielanie", follow the Greek rite, learn in Russian and still like to wear the old, low-cost clothes (trousers made of white, self-made linen, shirts long up to the knees made of the same material, let out, belted with a leather belt, tied with a ribbon under the neck or fastened with a button, a high sheepskin cap made of black banana on the head). They are mainly engaged in farming. Village built on both sides of the guest road; low huts, usually with one room, with a chamber; the stable and the rest of the buildings are usually behind the hut; sometimes the stable abuts the chamber.

The windows are sometimes small, with two sashes; the roof is covered with straw. The roof is covered with straw; the roof has "trestles" holding up the ridge; the walls are simply painted with lime. As a matter of fact, the cottages are not of any particular type. There is often a flower garden in front of the house. The first monument that strikes us upon entering the village is the parish church, or rather the chapel dedicated to the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, founded by Wacław and Anna Rzewuski, née Lubomirska, in 1756 and completed in 1765. Built of hewn stone and built by local workers according to the plans of Wacław Rzewuski, it stands among the trees, small but extremely ornate. The entire barrel-shaped structure (reminiscent of St Peter's Church in Rome) is very impressive on the outside.

The main exhibition is decorated with two rows of huge columns made of hewn stone, about a metre in diameter, ending in Corinthian heads decorated with acanthus leaves. Eight columns make up the first row, the six at the back complete the magnificent whole - the second row. On the sides, the same half-columns, adjoining the walls, support the walls. Above the columns rises a triangular pediment with eight patron saints of the Rzewuski family standing on the attic. Semicircular windows. The barrel vault is decorated with painted vases with flowers, the walls are similarly painted. The interior of the church is the interior of a cylinder, or drum. Of the interesting monuments, the old circular wooden balustrade and the baptistery are worth mentioning. Instead of a tower, a dome rises at the crossing, as is usual in the Renaissance. To this day, there are cost estimates and accounts of this construction, carried out by the founder himself, in the Podhoretto archives. The church is beautifully presented from the side of the castle, separated from it by a courtyard and guesthouse. Before we move on to the chateau, to which we will devote more space, we must first take a look at the wooden Church of St Michael.

The foundation of the monastery is attributed to Princess Helena, daughter of Vsze Volod, Prince of Belzh, and wife of Casimir the Just. She was said to have built the Orthodox Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord around 1180, and to have seated Basilians there. The monastery was destroyed by the Tartars together with the ancient Plesnitz in 1241; only the wooden church in the forest survived, at which wandering monks sometimes stayed. It is said that around 1585, an old man named Simon, a native of Bialy Kamień, after a journey to Mount Athos, where he became a monk, settled by the old church in Plesnisko and lived here for 42 years, dying on 23 September 1625, donating all his belongings to build a new church. In 1659, Father Elijah Hostyslawski arrived here with Sazonty Lomikowski, a deacon from the Skit Maniavski, and having received permission from Stanislaw Koniecpolski, the starost of Dolin, built a monastery and a church. On 10 December 1662, Gedeon Stopolk, bishop of Lutsk and Ostrogsk, confirmed Fr Elijah as superior and issued laws for the monastery. In 1666, after Elijah's death, Yov took over the reign, followed by Joil, Baczynski, Vyshobravka, etc.

Under Athanasius Bereza, Doroszenko demolished the monastery 1675 and dispersed the monks; 1676 the monks returned again, and 1687, on 15 October, John III Sobieski approved the Koniecpolski privilege, allowing the monastery to be restored and a third church dedicated to St John the Baptist to be founded. A year and a half later, two new churches were erected.Thanks to the efforts of the Basilians, with the support of Jakub Sobieski, a spacious church in the revival style was built, with a dome in the middle. In 1786, ihumen Anatoli Wodziński built a one-storey monastery wing next to the church. In 1785 the Austrian government wanted to cancel the monastery, but thanks to the efforts of the Zloczow dean, this intention was abandoned. Today, the monastery has become very impoverished. Latin inscriptions can be seen on both sides of the tsarist gates. One of them is dedicated to Fr Helena, the other to Fr Lomikowski, thanks to whose efforts the church was built. On the walls hang portraits of Karol Radziwiłł, Wacław Rzewuski and his wife Anna, Jan Sobieski and Stanisław Koniecpolski; they also hold a portrait of Petroniusz Łomikowski. Above the door a fanciful depiction of Princess Helena.

In the vaults are supposed to be the bodies of knights killed during Tartar attacks in defence of the monastery. Noteworthy is the monastery's small collection, containing several valuable artefacts. At the foot of the castle, the unspoilt plain of the Slyru valley slopes towards the north. In front of the chateau, there is a magnificent garden with beautiful lime tree avenues, whose trees are over 500 years old. The castle, a two-storey building in the later Renaissance style, forms a rectangle with 2 side pavilions. The roof, once covered with brick, is now tin and varnished. The side pavilions with steeply pitched roofs terminate in shafts from which figures holding globes appear. The window surrounds alternate with arched and triangular surrounds; there are pilasters between the windows and any corners are bronzed.

The central section appears as half a hexagon, forms a diagonal, used for the castle chapel and is decorated with an old painting and sundial. The fortress walling is made of blow moulding. The wall accommodates the main gate, where there used to be a bridge. Nowadays, only remnants of the stone balustrade remain; the former ditch just in front of the gate has been completely filled in. The entrance gate is made of stone in the Renaissance style, decorated on the sides with semi-columns, and is vaulted with a flat arch. The top is decorated with a crown with a chase on a shield (the Sanguszko coat of arms), and above it are the coats of arms of the former owners ("Pobóg" of the Koniecpolskis, "Krzywda" and "Śreniawa" of the Rzewuskis and the Lubomirskis). Pillars carved from sandstone. The wild vine, climbing the wall, gives the whole an unusual appearance and surrounds it with a kind of mystery. In front of the gate in the garden there are statues, stupas, their heads and other pieces, mostly made of sandstone, which used to decorate the terraces.

Immediately after the gate, in the spacious hallway, we are struck by a large clock with a very simple mechanism (no longer functioning today): it consists of 6 wheels, placed on two wooden rollers, 2 bells for striking the hours and a chain with weights, 115 m long. An inscription above the clock reads: "When King Jan III Sobieski at Vienna fought off Turkish avalanches. This clock on the castle tower indicated the hours of happiness and glory." It used to be in the tower, but was later removed from there and has now been given a place of little prominence... Today it is just a useless junk...". In addition to the clock, there are two more such mortars. From the hallway we enter a quadrangle paved with large stone slabs. To the right, our attention is drawn to an old-fashioned well 36 metres deep, from which water is extracted by means of a reel. The story goes that the wheel used to be moved by a bear's paws, thus relieving people of hard work. To the left, stairs lead up to a large glass veranda on the first floor. Around the courtyard are one-storey, vaulted buildings, covered instead of with a roof by an open terrace, paved with tiles. The three arms of this terrace, forming a horseshoe, converge with the loggias of the castle, which are accessed from the courtyard by a wide open staircase. T

he balustrade of the staircase and the balconies on the terraces were recently made of sandstone. The wide terraces above the deep trenches, now almost completely overgrown by weeds, have watchtowers on the corners, the so-called "blanks". The ground-floor lavatories are accessed by a very beautifully made door, of newer manufacture, with an old Venetian knocker depicting a griffin. Adjacent to the door are the coats of arms: Janina and Krzywda and the inscription: Quo via Virtutis. After this brief description of the castle's exterior, we need to take a look at its history before going inside to admire the magnificent collections and contemplate the monument to its fame... The name Podhorce probably comes from the location of the village below the mountain and means the same as "Podgórze".

Clryh Werdtim, travelling through Poland in 1671 and 1672, says:

"The beautiful palace of Jan Koniecpolski, when the trunk of such a tree is injured, by being caught, say, by the thorns of a passing cart. Or, if two trees growing too close to each other get injured by wind friction, they fuse together in the injured areas and, by covering themselves with bark, form a two-legged or two-stemmed tree. Large, spherical growths, often found on birch trees, are formed by another route, namely by the very luxuriant development of medullary rays. A neoplasm is formed from this. The largest such neoplasm was preserved in Szamocin, in the district of Chodzież. The birch tree on which it grew stood in Skoż, next to Szamocin. The circumference of the neoplasm is 2 metres, while the trunk of the tree above and below was only 70 cm. It is very common to see a similar development of medullary rays in linden and acacia (robinia) trees."

Although Wacław's son, Seweryn, lived here for some time after his return from exile, and even set up an alchemical laboratory on the second floor, Podhorce never returned to its former glory. The Targaryen soon left them forever. He died in 1811 in Vienna. His wife Konstancya took great care of the castle, but something was always missing. During his reign, a lot of Chinese and Saxon porcelain was exported, either to Lviv or Hrehorovka.

Part of the estate even passed into other hands. Seweryn's son, Wacław, married to Rozalia Lubomirska, often ran away from home, stained by the Targowica. He eagerly stayed in the East, devoting himself to oriental studies; a friend of the Arabs, they gave him the title of Emir, and it is to him that Mickiewicz's Parys ("Kasyda na cześć Emira Taj-ul-Fehr" ["Cassis in honour of the Emir Taj-ul-Fehr"]) is dedicated; Słowacki, Pol and others dedicated poems to him. In 1831, Wacław died without news. The castle was ruled by a certain Remiszewski, a man without the slightest sense of other people's property, a vandal. He wreaked havoc on the castle, destroyed the property, and removed everything he could from the castle: not only works of art, but even tableware, and eventually even stones from the platform. After him, this work of destruction was continued by Dlugoborski. The castle was on the precipice: there was no roof, no glass in the windows, the halls stood open. In 1833, after an amnesty was declared, it returned to the castle. In the Jarocin district, next to the road leading from Jarocin to Roszków, there are stones of the Duke of Radolin measuring 10.50 and 12.50 metres in circumference. The latter stone shows traces of powder holes. Since 1912 they have both been legally protected.

The boulder in Kotlina, in the Krotoszyn district, is 17 m in circumference and 2 m high. Of the other numerous sweatstones or erratic boulders, we should mention the so-called "Great Stone" in the Krotoszyn district near the mill on the Ruda river, which has a circumference of 17 m and a carved inscription I. H. Further on in the Bydgoski district, not far from Margonin, there is an Ofcio stone with a circumference of 18 metres and bearing an engraved inscription. In the village of Kmionki (today Steinbusch), a large stone was seen several decades ago, now known only from a historical legend - it was blasted to build a stable. In 1285, when the Teutonic army camped there, the grand master's tent was set up over the stone, which served as a dinner table.

The hallway of the knights' hall where the guard used to stand. The walls are almost completely covered with paintings depicting the Rzewuskis, Koniecpolskis, Sobieskis and others; to be mentioned here is a portrait of Adam Slenlawski (no. 1); Jan Karol Chodkiewicz, famous for his victory at Kirchholm (5); Duke Adam Czartoryski, general of the Podhale lands (17); Duke Sapieha, chancellor of the Lit. v. (19); Konik, a peasant of Podhoretsk from 1757, whose family has lived in Podhoretsk for 300 years (57); Bohdan Khmelnytsky, Hetman of the Cossacks (40); Charles XII, King of Sweden (45); the Merciful Samaritan (Rubens copy) (52); August III (53); Josephine, wife of August III (54) and Frederick, son of August III (59). Here there is a portrait of the so-called 'white lady', Anna of Lubomirska Rzewuska, who is said to have appeared in the castle after her death as a ghost, wearing a white robe, asking for prayers. Of the Rzewuskis, we should mention the portraits of Michał (3), Stanisław Mateusz (4), Seweryn, a bargainer (7), Józef (8), Wacław, founder of the Podborek church (9), Adam (23), and so on. The ceiling, painted by the court painter of the Koniecpolskis, Jan de Baan. The centre is occupied by "Rinaldo and Armida", on the sides (south) Hercules with a quaver at Omphalia; to the north Hercules resting between lions; to the east and west cupids.

There is a huge tiled cooker, stucco tables from the Rzewuskis and chairs upholstered in leather. The Renaissance doorways made of domestic marble are decorated with the Koniecpolskis' coat of arms (Pobóg). The Armoury - a large hall with a stucco floor, full of armour. The collection here is probably the richest in all of Poland. Forty full armour pieces of the Polish hussars allow us to imagine those brave hordes that brought death and destruction to numerous enemies. This is probably the richest collection in the whole of Europe.

How did a hussar dress? He would put on a thick elk jacket, steel armour and the same shoulder pads and gloves; his head would be covered with a helmet, and on his shoulders he would attach eagle or vulture wings (feathers, set in a suitable leather frame), whose noise would frighten the enemy's horses; in his hand he wielded a wooden lance, eight cubits long, with a kite pennant and an iron blade at the end; at his left side hung a curved sabre, and under his right leg or at the saddle - a sharp armour, for piercing an enemy lying on the ground. All of these things, with the exception of the kaftans and sabres, can be seen here: armour, epaulettes, breastplates, wings, pennants - now carried by mannequins.

Two valuable pieces of armour stand out: the armour of Hetman Stanisław Jabłonowski and the armour of Michał Floryan Rzewuski, in which he fought at Vienna and in which he presented himself to the Pope as a Polish envoy after the battle; they include a regimental mace and a round armoured shield. On iron racks hang 6 armoured shirts of the Polish light cavalry; there are also misiurks, or wire nets made of riveted steel rings, which, falling on part of the face, neck, shoulders and back, guarded the knight from cutting. The armourers used bows, arrows and quivers; one bow from 1699 has survived to the present day with all its equipment.

The two banners of the Rzewuskis, the chequered Hetman's banner and the Hussar sceptre, among others, are a beautiful decoration of the hall. This is also where the rich spoils from Vienna are kept. From among the sabres, we should mention the curved sabre with a gold Turkish inscription and a Latin inscription:

"Extra Joannis vicit ad Viennam 1685 Anno",

a curved sabre with a curved head, with a Turkish inscription and gold ornaments, an ebony handle, a silver hilt, in a scabbard sheathed in amaranth velvet with silver fittings; noteworthy is the sabre of John III from under Vienna; a Persian sabre, the head of which is adorned with a lion, the handle is set in bone, the hilt and scabbard fittings are of steel, inlaid with gold; the scabbard is covered with black, pea-shaped leather, embossed with ornaments. Drums and cymbals of Janissary music, captured at Chocim, Turkish bows, inlaid with gold, with inscriptions, Turkish rock Janissaries, Tartar yatagan, saddles, armour and the like.

The armoury is also decorated with beautiful stucco tables and chairs, with carved legs, high back, covered with Danzig leather, made in various patterns, a beautiful, huge Turkish carpet, Persian made, and a whole range of paintings. On the north wall you can see a large-scale painting depicting the Shuisky tsars, whom Stanislaw Żółkiewski presents to Sigismund III at the Warsaw Sejm. This painting is a copy of an original by Dolabella, court painter to Sigismund III. Eustachy duke Sanguszko brought it from Zastawo and had it restored by the painter Lorenovich.

Noteworthy portraits include the portrait of Bishop Załuski, founder of the Public Library in Warsaw (1748) (80); Jan Małachowski, chancellor of the V. k. (81); Waclaw and Anna Rzewuski (86, 87); Jakub Sobieski (516); Klemens Branicki (97); Jan Tarla (111); Radziwill 'Mr. Lover' (114); Waclaw Rzewuski (124); Count Ruth (152); Jerzy Lubomirski; Borejka (famous drunkard) and so on. The ceiling is beautiful, restored in the 19th century. In the middle is an apotheosis of Stanisław Koniecpolski; a Polish eagle casts a thunderbolt from under Koniecpolski's bust; at the top, on one side, a devil flees, while on the other, an angel with the Hetman's coat of arms proclaims his fame. The four sides depict the enemies with whom the hetman fought: Moscow to the north, the Tartar to the east, the Turk to the south and the Swede to the west. Around him, twelve paintings depict important moments in the life of Stanisław Koniecpolski or Stanisław Mateusz Rzewuski.

Thus, we see here the Cossacks' oath of allegiance to Ladislaus IV, the entry of Turkish deputies into the Polish camp, the capture of the Swedes at Piotrków (1702), the death of the Swede Raudyszyn, and so on. The Knights' Hall, formerly the "Table Room", holds many fond memories: it was here that Sobieski held his banquets, here that Waclaw Rzewuski sat at the table, here that grand ceremonial receptions were held.The Council has worked for centuries to create it. Similar acts of vandalism will cease when the general public develops a sense of respect for natural monuments, when they understand their value; then the local people will be proud to have a peculiarity in their neighbourhood, and will proudly show it off to visitors. Respect the tree whose shadow protects you!

The crimson hall has survived almost untouched. The floor, laid with marble slabs in three colours, the walls covered with damask, are hung with paintings. Of the paintings, mention should be made of Titian's 'Venus and Cupido' (144); Caraccia's 'Susanna between old men' (164); Rubens' 'Head of an old man' (168); Titian's 'Venus and Adonis' (101); Leonardo's 'Herodias with the head of St John' (104); Borgognon's 'Battle with the Turks' (202); Rembrandt's self-portrait. The sub-ceiling frieze is decorated with emblems and sentences. The centre of the ceiling and its lateral fields are filled with images of mythological content: in the centre, the sacrifice to Diana and Apollo; to the south, the abduction of Proserpine and the forge of Vulcan; to the north, the abduction of Helen and Diana with Actaeon. Magnificent Venetian glass candlesticks hang from the ceiling.

There are specimens of huge tiled cookers from the 18th century. The blue and white tiles are decorated with the coats of arms of the Rzewuskis and the monograms of their founders, such as: M S N R R W P H K W, which means:

"Stanisław Mateusz na Rzewuskach Rzewuski, Voivode of Podlasie, Great Hetman of the Crown".

One of the ornaments of the hall is the old-Polish fireplace, unfortunately already damaged today. The furniture is mostly of the Sobieski family. It consists of Baroque chests of drawers from France, a sofa and a chair in the style of Louis XIV and gaming tables. Noteworthy are the wooden candlesticks that used to replace the gold ones when in 1730. Waclaw Rzewuski, forced to pay ransom to a Tartar han, gave up all the cash he had (600,000 zlotys) and all the silver. For a long time tables were set with earthenware.In the Crimson Room we also find quite a number of plaster statues, some of which are gilded and served to decorate the table.

A three-wheeled cart remains of Waclaw Rzewuski, on which he was carried when he fell ill after returning from Kaluga. There is also a Turkish curtain from under Vienna, covering the door to the green room. The Chinese Room. A small room, with five windows, the floor in a chequered pattern of white, black and red marble. The walls and fields are decorated with paintings, imitating Chinese paintings. The ceiling depicts Juno, Venera, Minerva, Justice and Envy. Of the furniture, we should mention Maria Kazimiera's cedar-wood cash box of Japanese manufacture, Marysieńka's piano, Marysieńka's shoe, two chime clocks, Chinese tables, and a field easel.

A Chinese man was to work permanently at the court of Wacław Rzewuski. A golden hall. A beautiful stucco floor of several colours; the walls, covered with vitreous mass, make a strong impression. Paintings mostly biblical: by Jan de Baari and Czechowicz. The sub-ceiling cornice is interrupted by brackets, the frieze filled with oil paintings with sentences, as in the crimson hall. Ceiling fields filled with biblical paintings such as angels with flowers, Lot and his daughters, Noah's Sacrifice, Samson and Moses, Adam and Eve, Job and David. Tiled cookers, as in the Crimson Room, stucco tables with curved legs, chairs, a sofa, desks of old music on which 17th and 18th century atlases printed in Amsterdam are laid out today.

Hall of Mirrors. It takes its name from the numerous Venetian mirrors scattered on the walls; almost all of them are framed in gilded and only a few are also mirrored. The stucco floor, tiled cooker of the Rzewuskis from the 18th century. "Prometheus chained to a rock", by Guido Reni (220); cupids and satyrs on a barrel, by Lyric Giordano (225); "Susanna and the old men", by Tintoretto (227); "Samson and Dalila", by Veronese (230); "Lucretia", by Veronese (251) and others decorate the walls of the mirrored room. The ceiling, partly painted, partly gilded. In the centre, the Nativity of St John; to the sides, St John before the Judgement, the Deposition in the Tomb. Samaritan woman at the well and Abraham with Ishmael. The walls and chairs in this room are upholstered with Turkish cloth. On the tables are two thick books containing the war plans of Augustus II from 1730. Two doors lead from this room, one of which leads to the second floor, the other to the Mosaic Study.

The mosaic study. Stucco floor and walls. Here are mostly objects connected with the memory of John III, i.e. his homemade bed (very wide but short) with a damask curtain and the same covering, a folding camp bed covered with buffalo hide, a camp table which can be turned into a card table by means of a mechanism, a dining table and a desk, a hand-made moccasin from Vienna and others. There is also a fireplace here, with a portrait of Louis XV above it. On the ceiling, Olympus: Jupiter, Minerva, Venus, Diana, Mercury and Mars. The study leads out onto a balcony. This is where the beautiful walnut tree, said to have been planted by Jan Sobieski himself, first catches our eye. From here, there is a beautiful view of the northern side of Podhorzec. Right in front of us, we can see the bastions and the remains of the terraces already mentioned above.

This garden is meticulously maintained. In the middle of the laid lawn a beautiful monogram J. III. S. (John III Sobieski). Here on the wall, near the walnut tree, a poem by Horace reads:

"Ule terrarum mihi praeter omnes angulus ridet", and "Purae rivus aquae silvaeque integrae / Paucorum et segetis certa fides meae / Fulgentem imperio fertilis Africae / Fallit sorte beator" (Carminum III, 16)".

These quotations bear eloquent testimony to the fact that this place was a favourite nook of the former owners, that here they sought rest after their toil, entertaining the eye with a magnificent panorama. The anteroom of the Yellow Room, also called the Billiard Room after the large billiard which is located here. Wooden floor, doorframes once marble, now stone. The ceiling and walls are covered with dark red fabric. Among the paintings to be mentioned are the painting of Ignacy Pac, Marshal of the Bar Confederation, a work by Bacciarelli (251); Jordans's 'The Procession of the Goddesses' (284); the paintings of Waclaw, Severin, Waclaw-Emir, Stanislaw Mateusz and Michal Floryan - the Rzewuskis (406, 404, 380 and 101), and the painting of Hetmaness Anna Rzewuska.

On the latter we read: "Multis illa bonis flebilis occidit", and: "By birth a princess united with Rzewuski".

The four cabinets here contain quite a rich collection of Saxon and Viennese porcelain and Venetian glass, the collection of which, as we know, was a lowly affair in the 18th century and was a sign of wealth to boast of as much of these wares as possible. Glass and porcelain were often more expensive than silverware during the reign of August III. And today we know how much they are valued and sought after. Among the many costly crockery items, we should mention a suit of agate cups, four beautiful goblets from the reigns of August II and August III, two porcelain birds used as table decorations, and a huge four-litre glass goblet which, filled to the bottom with wine, was supposed to be emptied by a St Bernard in the 18th century, incidentally after a trial in the anteroom as to whether he would win a bet. It was all about the bet. Some of the glasses and goblets are decorated with German inscriptions.

The reception hall, also known as the yellow hall. In the 18th century, it was inhabited by Hetmaness Rzewuska, and later, in the 19th century, by the Wacław-emir administrators. The former stucco floor is replaced today by parquet flooring. The walls are covered with yellow damask and decorated with paintings. Above all, what strikes the eye here is a large carriage from the 18th century, once the property of Aleksander Lubomirski. Next to it is a so-called horse row, also from the 18th century. From the paintings, our attention is drawn to the following: a painting (535), depicting Rozalia Lubomirska, née Chodkiewicz, executed by guillotine in Paris during the Revolution (Rozalia is depicted here in the garb of a Roman priestess, throwing flowers on her grave); Mazepa, Ukrainian Hetman (302); an old man, portrait painted in the first half of the 18th century.; Mary Clementine, daughter of Jacob Sobieski, wife of Jacob II, pretender to the English crown (354); Battles and Triumphs of Alexander the Great (350, 352), by Le Brun; Ladislaus IV, King of Poland (364), by Rembrandt and others. Matting on the ceiling yellow; in the centre of the ceiling a magnificent Venetian spider. Chairs, tables and other furniture are partly from the Rzewuskis; mirrors from the 18th century.

Chapel. Once the jewel of Podhorzec, and today, despite its decline, it has lost little of its splendour. The floor used to be marble, laid in a chequered pattern of black and white slabs, now made of trembling stone. The old altar, decorated partly with sculpture and partly painted, has two stucco pillars on the sides. Formerly, during the rule of the Koniecpolskis and Sobieskis, it had an image of Our Lady of Sorrows, but due to considerable damage it was replaced by the Rzewuskis in the 18th century with a painting depicting Christ in front of Pilate, painted by Czechowicz. At the top of the altar is an old 17th century painting, The Resurrection of Christ the Lord, and at the bottom is Christ on the Cross, in ivory. And a painting by Guido Rieti, Head of Christ with crown of thorns. The candlesticks and other paraphernalia were left behind by the Rzewuskis. The walls to the height of the first floor are stuccoed, hung with paintings of religious content (there used to be portraits here). At the top, above the cornice, are 4 larger paintings. Even today you can still see the beautiful gallery, or black cloister, where castle music used to be played during services.

Higher up, above the gallery, there is a lodge window from where you could listen to mass. Down below the gallery, there are two niches, serving today as if they were the church treasury, where precious chasubles, made of costly material capable of being used on the enemy, are kept. Next to the altar there is a large marble table, cracked in two, which is said to have broken during the baptism of Jan Sobieski in the Olesko castle, which was believed to foretell great deeds to be performed by the child in the future. Noteworthy is an old mica window.

Green room. The linen ceiling is badly damaged by dampness and dampness. Danzig chairs from the time of Louis XIV, yew table, card tables, mirrored cabinets. Birchwood parquet flooring. Paintings mostly by Czechowicz, a few copies by other artists. In the 18th century Hetman Václav Rzewuski lived here, and in the 19th century the last heir of Podhorzec, Count Leon Rzewuski. In this way, we ran through the halls of the ground floor and the first floor. The second floor is rarely visited. It can be entered either by a spiral staircase, a side staircase or the main staircase. There is no doubt that the second floor was also magnificently furnished like the first floor. There was a large ballroom, today unfortunately much dilapidated, now furnished with old chairs, decorated with Turkish tents and other rooms are filled with various objects, among others with natural history collections; there are also remains of machinery and decorations from the former castle theatre.

A lot of work and perseverance is still needed to bring these rooms into good order and restore them to their former splendid appearance. It is no small task, but it is a rewarding one, and one that will be of benefit to both ourselves and the country. Every castle rising from the rubble today is a symbol of national existence, a symbol of faith, of hope, a symbol of love, embracing everything and everyone... We leave the castle at last. My God, what feelings arise in the heart, what thoughts float through the head... The whole story resonates in the soul. With longing, but at the same time with a certain encouragement in our hearts, buoyed up in spirit, having looked once more at this shrine of glory, we leave it...

Farewell to the spirit of the Sobieski Family, strengthen our faith! Vigil! The Zloczów district is very pleasant in terms of the physical shape of its level. Numerous hills, covered with forest, criss-crossed by streams and rivers, make a pleasant impression on the traveller. Several rivers flow from here, including the Herze River, which has its beginning in a small village called Verkhobuzh. Verkhobuzh is located 17 km northeast of Zloczów, 21 km southeast of SassoWa.

It is bordered to the south by Krechov, to the north-west by Kotlov, to the west by Opakaml, and to the north by Verkhobuzh Huta; to the east lies Bukovets. In the eastern part of the village the river Bug starts, which in a small valley, between the village loading, spouts several holes. The water, extremely cold and tasty, is contained in a kind of cement pool, accessible only from one side. Above the spring, between two lime trees, rises the statue of St John the Baptist, with statues of saints on the sides of the square pool. Here we had a little adventure with the mayor, who could not be persuaded by anything that we were not a danger to the Austrian state.

He would not allow a photograph to be taken of the spring, and even threatened us with arrest, despite identifying ourselves as thoroughly as possible. After a long bargain, it turned out that he was illiterate, so it was no wonder that the ID cards did not convince him. The village was very poor, muddy to the point that a horse with a vanity cart could not run out. The local peasants (Ruthenians) told us that unless the summer was dry, they only brought the crops from the field in winter when it froze over. In the village there is an old wooden Orthodox church, remarkably original, and a school with a Ruthenian language of instruction. The cottages are low, neglected, the windows small and dark.

It was impossible to take any photos; only one was taken, showing a watermill on a stream, such as there are many in this area. Along the eastern border flows the Kieniiczanin stream, one of the arms of the Seret. The watershed between the Vistula and Dniester basins runs through the northern part of the village. The trip was pleasant, highly beneficial for the soul. I consider the impressions experienced during it among the most pleasant. A reminder of history, getting to know this dear corner of the country, these are the visible benefits.

I was accompanied on the excursion by Mr and Mrs K. Janczewski, to whom I would like to express my sincere thanks for their kind hospitality extended to my brother Józef. I would also like to express my sincere thanks to Mr Stanislaw Wojuas for his kind participation in the excursion and his help with the photographic images.