They are the most beautiful and the best-preserved tenement houses of Zamość townspeople.
The Wilczek House is closest to the Town Hall. It was named after Jan Wilczek, a town counsellor. Most of its decorations are located on the corner. The decorations placed on the side of the house facing the Rynek feature John the Baptist, the saint patron of the owner, baptising Christ. Below there is Zamość coat of arms, i.e. St. Thomas the Apostle holding three spears and still lower the coat of arms of Stanisław Koniecpolski, who ruled Zamość for a few years. Low-reliefs facing the Town Hall feature the Immaculate Conception of Mother of God, St. John the Evangelist, the second patron saint of the owner and a cartouche with initials IWRZ /Jan Wilczek Zamość Counsellor/. Apparently, the owner wanted to make sure everybody knew whose house it was as he placed his initials on this wall as many as four times.
The second building, called the Rudomicz House, belonged to a lawyer, physician, writer as well as professor and rector of the Zamojska Academy, Bazyli Rudomicz. He was the author of an extensive journal in which he described the life of 17th century Zamość.
The next richly ornamented building is Under the Angel House. Its name comes from a low-relief featuring archangel Gabriel. Above the likeness of the archangel, among the grapevine, there is an image of a dragon and two lions, leaning on their hind legs. The dragon symbolised evil and the lions were supposed to protect inhabitants of the house from it.
The name of the fourth house - Under the Married Couple House - comes from a low-relief placed on the façade, which features a man and a woman. Legend has it that the owner of the house could not stand the company of his quarrelsome wife. When all his appeals for peace proved ineffective, he accused her of practising witchcraft. As a result, she was burnt at the stake. Hence, a puckish smile on the stony man’s face. This is probably only a legend; nevertheless, many women accused of practising witchcraft were in fact executed in Zamość. For example, in 1664 six townswomen were first tortured and then sentenced to death at the stake for practising witchcraft. Finally, the sentence was mitigated and they were beheaded.
The last of the five splendid houses topped with a parapet is Under the Madonna House. The façade of the house is decorated with a low-relief featuring the Madonna with Baby Jesus treading on a dragon. The upper frames of first-floor windows are richly ornamented and among the numerous motifs there are initials “SS” belonging to Sołtan Sachwelowicz, an Armenian merchant and the founder of the house. At present the Zamojskie Museum is located in the first four houses and Secondary School of Fine Arts in the fifth.
