Built in the 16th century with a three-storey arcaded loggia, and is topped with a three-tower attic. It now houses the Museum of the History of Poznan.

Tags:   Old Town Poznan Poland Town Hall Market Square Rathaus b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l

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This fountain was erected in 1776 by Augustine Schöps, and it depicts the abduction of Proserpine by Pluto, the Greek mythology ruler of the underworld.

Tags:   Old Town Poznan Poland Market Square Quality Pixels Kidnapping of Proserpine

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There are 4 fountains in the Market Square. The one in front of the Town Hall is the Rococo fountain representing the kidnapping of Proserpine. The others are Apollo, Poseidon, and Mars, located at the other three corners of the market square.

Tags:   Old Town Poznan Poland Market Square

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Excerpt from Wikipedia:

The Old Town is centred on Stary Rynek, the Old Market Square where the historic Poznań Town Hall (Ratusz) stands. It represents the glory of Poznań, from its foundation in 1253. One of Town Hall's towers hosts 2 small billy goats, which are butting their heads everyday at noon. At the western end of the Old Town is the Przemysł Hill (Góra Przemysła) on which the King's castle once stood. The medieval Royal Castle in Poznań has been reconstructed between 2011 and 2016.

The city walls were taken down when the city expanded in the early 19th century, but the street layout of the Old Town still corresponds closely to that of the former protected city, with a grid of narrow streets. Surviving fragments of the walls, some of which have been further reconstructed, can be seen on Stawna Street, Ludgardy Street, next to Chopin Park in the south of the Old Market Square and best parts are on Masztalarska street in the north.

Poznań Old Town is listed as one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments (Pomnik historii), as designated November 28, 2008, along with other portions of the city's historic core. Its listing is maintained by the National Heritage Board of Poland.

The Old Market Square (Stary Rynek) is the large square on which the Old Town neighbourhood is centred. The sides of the square measure approximately 140 metres (460 ft). There is a group of buildings in the central part of the square, chief of which is the Old Town Hall (Ratusz). On each side of the square are tall rows of former tenement houses (kamienice), many of which are now used as restaurants, cafés and pubs (often with outdoor tables on the square itself). The square was originally laid out in around 1253, with each side divided into 16 equal plots, and many changes to architectural layout and style were made over the centuries. Major changes were made from 1550 onwards by Giovanni Battista di Quadro, who reconstructed the Town Hall and several other buildings in Renaissance style (severe damage had been done to the buildings by a fire of 1536). Most of the buildings in the square were reconstructed following heavy damage in the Battle of Poznań (1945).

Tags:   Market Square Old Town Poznan Poland Stary Rynek

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Excerpt from poznan.pl:

The central square of the city established in 1253 on the left bank of the Warta River was designed on the base of a square with four 141 - metre sides.

In terms of size, the square is the third biggest in Poland, losing only to the squares in Krakow and Wrocław.

Each side of the square has three streets running out of it, dividing its sides into two sections with eight 35-43 metre long, 7-8 metre wide plots.

Of the twelve streets starting at the square, four (Wrocławska, Wroniecka, Wielka and Wodna) used to lead to the city gates.

The square was to be built up with administrative and commercial edifices. Soon after the creation of the city, the town hall, the Municipal Scales and market stalls were built.

Originally the structures built both in and around the square were made of wood. However, as soon as in the end of the 13th century brick buildings began to appear: the Municipal Scales, the Gothic town hall, and in the 14th century the cloth hall.

In the first half of the 16th century a complex of small houses, called the merchants' houses, was built by the merchants who owned the individual plots.

In the 17th century, the bread market was moved next to the Municipal Scales and in their place the arsenal was built. Next came the guardhouse in the late 18th century.

These buildings were repeatedly destroyed, rebuilt and modified and were finally restored to their original form (except for the arsenal and the cloth hall) after 1945.

The speed with which the wooden structures were phased out increased after the great fire in 1471. The houses around the square were built with initially two and later three rows of rooms, with their gables facing the square. They were used as lodgings, but served also as workshops and stores.

Excerpt from inyourpocket.com:

This sculpture from 1724 is the figure of John of Nepomuk (Jan Nepomucen), a Bohemian martyr saint who was tortured and drowned in the Vltava River after refusing to divulge the secrets of the Queen of Bohemia’s confessional to her jealous husband Wenceslaus. It was hoped that the saint would be able to protect the city from repeated, disastrous floods, but ultimately the 1960’s re-routing of the Warta River did a far better job of that.

Tags:   Poznan Poland John of Nepomuk Jan Nepomucen Old Town Market Square

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