Historic sites
Old Bernardine Monastery
Franciscans – observers also know as the Bernardine were brought to the city by Jan Amor Tarnowski in 1459. The monastery was erected in accordance to the Bernardine principles, located outside of the city and occupied one of the gardens adjacent to the southern part of the city wall. Originally, monastery was most likely a wooden one, and treated as a temporary building, right from the beginning.
Old Cemetery
First known burial in the “old” cemetery, located on the corner of the Tuchowska and Narutowicza streets, dates back to 1791. At first the cemetery served as a burial place for poor people, although the gravestone of Princess Maria Anna of Lubomirscy Radziwiłłowa, a wife of Prince Karol called “Mr. Lover”, comes from that time period.
Tarnów Savings-Bank
Building located on the 10 Wałowa street was constructed especially for the purposes of Tarnów Savings-Bank, which was the first, and for tens of years, one of biggest financial institution in the city. The main aim of the savings-bank was to support small trade, craftsman and local industry, at the same time it was to credit city investments and allocate part of its profits for support of various social institutions and cultural initiatives in Tarnów.
Railway Station in Tarnów
Inclusion of the Kraków Republic into the Habsburg Empire in 1846 brought about an idea of connecting Kraków with Lvov by a railway. Work begun and in 1853 a rail connection between Debica and Bochnia was finished, however Kraków was not a part of this line. Beginning of the Crimean war, in the same year, and subsequent tensions between Austria and Russia, forced the Viennese government to rationalize communications in Galicia. Official opening of a railway running through Tarnów, took place on the 20th of February 1856.
Holy Family Church
Thanks to the efforts of Tarnów’s Bishop Leon Wałęga, on the 1st of February 1904, first two priests from the Gathering of Missionaries arrived in Tarnów. They stayed on Bernardyńska street and held services in the St Mary’s Church in the Burek. Excellent spot for construction was chosen and soon after construction began.
District and county seat, Sobieski square
South side of the Sobieski square is decorated by a building with a structurally complicated facade, constructed in the spirit of historical architecture. This building, for a very long time, served the local community as one of the most important public buildings. For over 100 years it was the seat of the County Government, and from 1867 (after Galicia gained autonomy) it served as the seat of the Tarnów District Government.
Strzelecki Park
Municipal park in Tarnów was set up in 1866. Franciszek Herzig states: ”This year, on the grounds of an old Podwale Dyksonówka farm, donated by the city, a shooting range for the shooting association was established, it was also decided that a park will be setup right beside the range.” The author of the park’s design was Antoni Schmidt, a gardener from Krosno.
Bem's Mausoleum
In the middle of a pond in the town park, former Shooting Garden of the Cock Fraternity, a considerably large Mausoleum of General Joseph Bem is placed. Bem, the hero of Polish and Hungarian fights for independence during the November Insurrection and the People’s Spring Struggle 1848-1849, was born in Tarnow in 1794 and died in the far Syrian Aleppo in 1850, where he was originally buried on a Muslim cemetery.
Sekler's Gate
The Sekler's Gate of Joseph Bem and Sándor Petőfi is a gift of the Hungarian Irott Szo Foundation and the city of Sepsiszentgyőrgy for Tarnow. It is the second gate of this kind in Poland – the other one is in Stary Sacz. The day of its opening, 26 May 2001, is linked with the 170th anniversary of the Ostroleka battle – one of the battles of the November Insurrection in Poland, in which General Bem participated.
Statue of General Joseph Bem
From 11 May 1985 inhabitants of Tarnow can admire the statue of General Joseph Bem, which is located on Walowa Street. The monument was founded thanks to the generosity of the Polish-Hungarian Friendship Society of Tarnow, the town’s residents and many other people not directly connected with Tarnow.
