Horse cabs

Britzka rides – not faster that at a trot

11 Polish britzkas and 59 Jewish ones take 3 passengers each and transport them from the Old Town to the Nowe Miasto District for 15 – 30 kopeks. This was a “public transportation system” in Zamość in 1937. The right to own and use droshkies for transporting passengers was handed down from father to son. Today only memories and yellowed photographs remind us about those drivers. However, it is difficult to imagine Zamość without picturesque droshkies, moving majestically along the streets. Nowadays cabs constitute a major tourist attraction. They usually wait for passengers in the shade of the trees surrounding the Zamoyski family palace. From May till September passengers can do some sightseeing from cabs pulled slowly by piebald horses along the back streets of the town. The rides have the same old charm and speed as they once had, i.e. they move “not faster than at a moderate trot” (regulations concerning droshkies in Zamość from 1893).

The most popular cab drivers were the Siewieńs and the Jandas. Jan Przyczyna, a cab driver who died in 1970 and his mare Siwa were also well-known. Today britzkas are driven by Tadeusz Sołoducha and Stanisław Żołyniak.