Old Town Walking Tour If there’s room for a little wide-eyed rambling in your schedule, you’ll find no more rewarding experience than meandering around the Old Town. For those who prefer a bit more structure, we’ve put together an eleven-stop walking tour, which will take you through all the main sights. Let’s go! 0 MARKET SQUARE (RYNEK) While you’re taking in the medieval majesty of the Wrocław’s market square (Rynek), bear in mind that it was almost totally rebuilt from a pile of ruins after the Siege of 1945. Such was the remarkable dedication to detail of Wrocław’s ‘pioneers’ – those who resettled here from the east after WWII - that today tourists can even admire a replica of the stone pillory (south east of the Town Hall, F-5) used to flog people from 1492 to well into the 18th century. In the post-war period the statue of famous writer Aleksander Fredro (seated southwest of the Town Hall, F-5) was also brought from Lviv in 1956 to replace the statue that had previously occupied the space up till the end of the war - that of Kaiser Wilhelm. Wrocław’s market square and much of the urban grid around it was laid out by city planners in 1241. It was then and remains even now one of the largest squares of its kind in Europe, and the magnificent Town Hall (Ratusz) at its centre is a masterpiece of medieval architecture. Work began on the city’s administrative seat in the late 13th century and continued for 250 years, resulting in the eclectic edifice covered in decorative embellishments that we see today. Today the beautiful ensemble contains the Museum of Burgher Art, as well as numerous restaurants, cafes and bars. Ranging from Gothic to Art Nouveau, the impressive facades of the townhouses lining the market square also deserve closer inspection, one notable exception being the drab ten-storey office building at Rynek 11. Completed in 1931 the structure was designed by Heinrich Rump and offers a glimpse of how the market square may have looked had a ludicrous project to modernise the historic centre come to fruition. It was the idea of Max Berg - creator of the concrete bliss called Centennial Hall - to demolish the buildings surrounding the Rynek, replacing them with 20 storey concrete towers. After much deliberation city authorities abandoned the plan, in the process saving the Wrocław loved by all today.QE‑5.
Town Hall
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1 TOWN HALL, MUSEUM OF BURGHER ART The first thing you’ll probably notice about the Town Hall (Ratusz) is that it seems to be patched together from bits and pieces of a dozen different buildings, and in many ways it was. Construction began at the end of the 13th century and continued - through all the changing political and artistic forces - for about 250 years. The Town Hall was the centre of city life up until the early 20th century, housing the Town Council, merchants’ stalls and (most importantly?) a beer cellar. The building escaped relatively unscathed after World War II (an estimated 10% was damaged). After reconstruction work, it was re-opened as the Museum of Burgher Art (Muzeum Sztuki Mieszczańskiej). Inside you can see the remarkable Gothic interiors, a collection of silver and other city artefacts. Unfortunately these exhibits are poorly marked and finding your way around can be a bit of a stab in the dark. For us, the most fun part of the Town Hall is exploring the elaborate exterior decoration; see if you can find scenes from Aesop’s fables, or grotesque scenes of medieval pub life.QF‑5, Rynek, tel. (+48) 71 347 16 90, www.mmw.pl. Open 10:00 - 17:00, Sun 10:00 - 18:00. Closed Mon, Tue. Admission free for permanent exhibits. U
Plac Solny
Photo by Daviidos, CC-BY-SA-4.0
2 PLAC SOLNY (SALT MARKET) The main square’s little flower-loving sibling, the Salt Market was built quite early in the city’s history, most likely in 1242, while Wrocław was being reconstructed following the disastrous Mongol Invasion. Named variously Saltzring (Salt Square) and Polnischer Markt (Polish Market), the square was where salt from Wieliczka and Halicz and goods like leather, honey, and beeswax - mainly from Poland were traded from the Middle Ages until the 19th century. Some strange scenes took place here occasionally - the most vivid, perhaps, happened in the 15th century, when Wrocław was under Bohemian rule. At the time, the city’s inhabitants were largely influenced by the ideas of Czech reformer Jan Hus, a predecessor to Protestantism. The Vatican, outraged at such blasphemy, sent inquisitor John of Capistrano (a ‘soldier-saint’ who would later lead a crusade at age 70) to talk this heretical nonsense out of the Wrocław lambs. John’s fiery sermons were so effective, in fact, that worshippers willingly carried furniture and valuables out of their homes to be burned in a huge bonfire on Plac Solny. Things soon took a darker turn, as local Jews - the ultimate heretics according to the inquisitor - were were burned at
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