Starost's Manor House

The starost's manor house in Leżajsk was built in 1760-1770 for Józef Potocki, Crown Carver and the last starost of Leżajsk. The single-storey building stands on an elongated rectangular plan with upper-floor dormers and is accompanied by four outbuildings.

The history of the site goes back to the 16th century. After the town's second charter, starost Krzysztof Szydłowiecki built a timber residential and defensive complex here in 1524-1532. It included the starost's house, a brewery, a malt house, stables, a prison, earth ramparts with a palisade and a three-storey tower. In 1609 the complex was plundered by Stanisław Stadnicki, and in 1656-1657 it was damaged by Swedish troops and the forces of George II Rákóczi.

The oldest surviving part of the complex is the south-eastern outbuilding, probably a former kitchen, raised after 1664. In 1773-1819 the complex belonged to the Austrian state treasury, after which the Leżajsk estate was bought by Count Wojciech Mier, who built a classicist palace 200 metres west of the manor. From 1831 the manor belonged to the Łańcut Entail of the Potocki family, and from 1922 it housed a grammar school. Schools remained in the complex until 2001. In 2004 the buildings were taken over by the Leżajsk County Office, which restored them and opened the museum here on 1 January 2008.