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. Originally, in the first years of its existence, it was an impressive classicist magnate residence. It was build in the mid-eighties of the 18th century, by the last, private at that time, owner of Tarnów, Prince Hieronim Sanguszko, who as the first from his family, decided to permanently settle in Tarnów. It was designed as a single storey palace, with a 10 axis facade a spacious hall in the middle and located behind the Krakowska Gate, right next to the Austrians build, imperial track, connecting Kraków and Lvov with Vienna. City map form 1796, informs about the existence of the palace. Sanguszko family lived in this place for only few years. At the beginning of the century they moved to the “Nikelsonowski” tenement house on the Main Square 4, and later to, build by them, villa in Gumniska. At the beginning of the second decade of the 19th century, Eustachy Sanguszko, builder’s son, sold the building to Austrian occupational authorities, which converted it to a county seat, with rooms for the county prefect and thirty county and court officials. Around 1870, the palace was greatly enlarged, it was extended in eastern and western directions. Second floor was added and the old hall was converted into offices. Added space greatly disrupted the look of the building and that is why at the beginning of the last century Austrian district authorities decided to give it a uniform look in accordance with the esthetics of that time. The assignment was given to the manager of the civil engineering in Tarnów, Szczęsny Zaręba, who designed the new, kept till this day, architectural layout of the building.