The history of the Discalced (Barefoot) Carmelites’ monastery in Zagórz, in front of which you are standing, dates back to 1700, when the then voivode of Volhynia, Jan Franciszek Stadnicki, established a foundation for the monastery as a votive offering for saving nearby Lesko from the Swedish Deluge. A will telling about this event was recently found. Already in 1714, monks lived in the monastery, and by 1730 the construction of the entire complex was completed. The defensive walls and fortifications were built in the following years. The Baroque monastery was a fortress constituting one of the links in the defensive chain, which included the castles: Sobień, Sanok, Lesko, Odrzykoń and Dobromil. The Zagórz convent, made of stone, includes: a church on a cross plan, with one arm elongated to form the monastic choir, a monastery with a cloister in the middle, a foresterium (guest house), a gatehouse, a guardhouse, a coach house, farm buildings, a well, an obelisk with a figure of Our Lady of the Scapular (modern), cloister garden (reconstructed), defensive walls and ruins of the hospital building located outside the defensive walls. The total area inside the walls is over one and a half hectares. In its heyday (until the first partition of Poland), the complex was divided into three parts: a square, entering through an impressive gate, with a church and guest buildings accessible to the faithful, a utility part and a cloistered monastery with a garden, including 22 monks' cells, a library, refectory and kitchen. The church interior was decorated with illusionistic painting, which replaced the altarpieces. It was an extremely rare solution. Two towers that served as bell towers were erected at the point where the church joins the monastery. Jan Stadnicki also allocated a permanent fund for the monastery hospital in his will, providing care for 12 military veterans of noble origin. The hospital existed until the dissolution of the monastery in 1831. During the Bar Confederation, the Sanok region became an arena of struggle between Confederate and Russian troops. Their testimony is the Pulaski trenches. In 1772, Russian troops, commanded by General Ivan Drewicz, besieged the monastery of the Bar Confederates. The monastery buildings were shelled by cannons, some of the buildings were burned and destroyed. The defense of the monastery in Zagórz was the last battle of the confederation. To commemorate these events, in 2018, a monument to the Unknown Bar Confederate, the work of Piotr Zieleniak, was unveiled in the centre of Zagórz. After the fire and destruction, the monks managed to restore the convent, but the Josephine reforms did not allow it to return to its former glory. According to the official version of the Austrian police, on 26th November 1822 at two o'clock in the afternoon, during an argument between the prior and one of the monks, a fire broke out and consumed the buildings of the monastic complex; according to another version, it was a deliberate arson on the initiative of the partitioning authorities. In 1831, the Austrian government abolished the monastery in Zagórz, the estates and legacies became the state treasury, and the Carmelites were transferred to Przeworsk and Lviv. The church equipment saved from the fire – including large paintings – was placed in the parish church in Zagórz. For 135 years, the destroyed and deserted monastery remained unattended, until in 1957, when the Carmelites undertook the reconstruction of the Zagórz Monastery. However, after the death of the tireless initiator of the reconstruction, Father Józef (Jan Prus), the Carmelites had to give up continuing the reconstruction due to lack of financial resources. On 10th October 1962 on the orders of their superiors, the monks left the Zagórz Monastery. It was only in the Third Polish Republic that the authorities of the Zagórz Municipality, together with the Subcarpathian Provincial Conservator of Monuments, undertook to save the ruins. After the facility was taken over by the Zagórz Municipality, systematic works have been carried out since 2000 to protect the crumbling monument. The walls of the church and monastery were cleared of trees and bushes, and the area was tidied up. Two ruined church towers were rebuilt. In the following years, three facades of the church were secured (southern, western and northern (front)). Conservation works were resumed in 2011, which makes this unique monument a real tourist attraction. Now we invite you to enter the monastery area. In front of you, dear guest, is the main gate, pay attention to the thickness of the walls and firing embrasure, reminding us of the defensive nature of the entire complex. Also take a look at the stone pietà on the wall - it is the last but one station of the Way of the Cross.