Town Hall of Tarnów, Poland - Renaissance Architecture on Waymarking.com

[EN]

From the beginning of its existence until 1931 when it was allocated for museum purposes, the Town Hall was a building where town officials were residing. Built at the turn of the 16th century as a Gothic, brick building, it was altered in the 70s of the 16th century and gained a Renaissance look. This simple, cubic building was then crowned with a high, brick wall of an attic, behind which there was the so called butterfly roof. This attic was decorated with 28 blind windows, in which there were portrays of town owners from the Tarnowski family. The most decorative element of the attic – the top was decorated with pinnacles and mascarons combined with double volutes. At that time, from the southern side, an avant-corps was added with an elegant, external portal where the Leliwa coat of arms was placed. The following letters were placed on the heraldic shield: T C V C – TARNOVIAE CIVITATIS VERA CLENODIUM – LOYAL JEWEL OF TARNÓW TOWN. The entablature of this portal is decorated with the following sentence: DOMINUS CUSTODIAT INTROITUM EX EXITUM TUUM – MAY THE LORD GUARD YOUR COMING AND YOUR GOING. During the renovation in 1889-1892 carried out by an architect, Szczesny Zaremba, the interiors underwent major changes involving the demolition of their damaged vaults.

On the first floor, the Council’s Room was expanded and decorated with neo-Renaissance stucco which gave it an elegant character. The entrance to this Room is decorated with a Renaissance portal, the header of which bears the following inscription: JUSTITIAE FUNDAMENTUM FIDES – THE FOUNDATION OF JUSTICE IS FAITH.

During the restoration of this building in 1962-1968 carried out by J. E. Dutkiewicz, on the walls in the Commoners Room (pl. Sala Pospólstwa), fragments of polychromy dating back to the 18th century were found, modelled on the illustrations in the work of F. Pona “Cordiomorphoseos sive ex corde desumpta emblemata sacra” of 1645. This Italian original was used here in order to present the civic values of the town council.

The tower – Gothic-Renaissance structure 28 m high. On its top, there is a porch which used to be the place for the fire guards who were to raise the alarm if there was a fire. Initially, the dome of the tower was crowned with the town’s coat of arms – Leliwa. It was replaced with the Pogon coat of arms, visible till this day, the coat of arms of the Sanguszko Dukes, the heirs of Tarnów since the 18th century. At noon, there is a trumpet call played on this tower, composed by Stanislaw Rzepecki in 1972. One of tourist attractions is the possibility of entering the tower and admiring the view of Tarnów.

The clock. The oldest information about the existence of this tower clock dates back to the beginning of the 16th century, it was destroyed during the fire in 1663. The parts remaining after this clock are two clock bells that are currently exhibited in the Commoners Room. This destroyed clock was replaced with a new one that operates until today and is one of the oldest operating tower clocks in Malopolska.

(text from Land of Tarnów Museum's site)

[PL]

Ratusz od poczatku swego istnienia az do 1931 roku, kiedy zostal przekazany na cele muzealne, byl budowla, w której urzedowaly wladze miasta. Murowany budynek wybudowano na przelomie XV/XVI w. w stylu gotyckim.

Pierwsza przebudowa ratusza miala miejsce w latach 70. XVI wieku. Budynek zyskal wówczas renesansowy wyglad. Prosta, kubiczna bryla zostala zwienczona wysoka, ceglana sciana attyki, za która kryje sie tzw. dach pograzony. Attyke zostala ozdobiona 28 blendami, w których byly umieszczone portrety wlascicieli miasta z rodu Tarnowskich. Najbardziej dekoracyjny element attyki – grzebien – ozdobiono sterczynami i maszkaronami, polaczonymi podwójnymi esownicami. Od strony poludniowej dodano wówczas ryzalit, z reprezentacyjnym, zewnetrznym portalem, w którym umieszczono herb Leliwa. Na tarczy herbowej umieszczono litery T C V C – TARNOVIAE CIVITATIS VERA CLENODIUM – TARNOWSKIEGO MIASTA WIERNY KLEJNOT. Belkowanie portalu zdobi sentencja DOMINUS CUSTODIAT INTROITUM EX EXITUM TUUM” – NIECH PAN STRZEZE WEJSCIA I WYJSCIA TWEGO.

Podczas remontu prowadzonego w latach 1889-1892 przez architekta Szczesnego Zarembe daleko idacym zmianom ulegly wnetrza, w których wyburzono zniszczone sklepienia. Na pietrze poszerzono i ozdobiono neorenesansowymi stiukami Sale Rady, nadajac jej reprezentacyjny charakter. Wejscie do Sali zdobi renesansowy portal, którego nadproze opatrzone jest inskrypcja JUSTITIAE FUNDAMENTUM FIDES – WIARA PODSTAWA SPRAWIEDLIWOSCI.

Podczas rewaloryzacji budynku w latach 1962-1968 prowadzonej przez J.E. Dutkiewicza na scianach Sali Pospólstwa odkryto fragmenty polichromii z XVIII w. wzorowanych na grafikach umieszczonych w dziele F. Pony „Ksztalty serca albo z serca wybrane swiete” z 1645 roku. Wloski pierwowzór zostal tu wykorzystany do prezentacji cnót obywatelskich zgromadzenia miejskiego.

Wieza gotycko-renesansowa ma wysokosc 28 metrów. Na jej szczycie umieszczony jest ganek gdzie miescilo sie stanowisko strazy ogniowej, która miala ostrzegac przed pozarem. Pierwotnie helm wiezy wienczyl herb miasta Leliwa. W XVIII wieku zostal on zastapiony widoczna do dzis Pogonia, herbem ksiazat Sanguszków, dziedziców Tarnowa. W poludnie, z wiezy rozlega sie „Hejnal tarnowski” skomponowany przez Stanislawa Rzepeckiego w 1972 roku. Niewatpliwa atrakcja turystyczna jest mozliwosc wejscia na wieze i podziwiania panoramy Tarnowa.

Najstarsza wzmianka o istnieniu zegara wiezowego pochodzi z poczatku XVI wieku, ulegl on zniszczeniu podczas pozaru w 1663 roku. Pozostaloscia po nim sa dzwony zegarowe obecnie eksponowane w Sali Pospólstwa. Zniszczony zegar zastapiono nowym, czynnym do dzis, który jest najstarszym chodzacym zegarem wiezowym w Malopolsce.

(tekst ze strony Muzeum Ziemi Tarnowskiej)

Date of origin:: 1570s Architect(s): Uknown Style: Mannerism (ca. 1520–1600) Web site of the object (if exists): [Web Link] Type of building (structure): City hall, college, hospital or another building of public use Address: Rynek 1, 33-100 Tarnów

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