We encourage you to visit Poznań – a city with history!
Old Market Square – in 1253 Przemysł I and Bolesław the Pious, considering the overpopulation of Ostrów Tumski, decided to build a town on the left bank of the Warta river, choosing the urban structure with a central square and a network of radiating streets, protected by town walls. The main square (i.e. the Old Market Square) was treated by the residents as a landmark, at the same time being a vibrant centre of trade. The Renaissance building hosting the Town Hall is one of the most characteristic buildings that the Old Market Square is famous for. The Pillory is situated exactly in the geometrical centre of Poznań, right next to the Town Hall. Its location was supposed to symbolise the rule of law in the town and warn any potential wrongdoers of the inevitable public punishment.
Town Hall – the building dates back to the second half of the 18th century. Its Gothic cellars, with the vault with a preserved keystone, decorated with the coat of arms of the Chech Přemyslid dynasty that ruled in Poland between 1300 and 1306, also date from the same period. The Town Hall was rebuilt after a fire in the 16th century. Poznań was a wealthy town at the time, which made it possible to invite Giovanni Battista di Quadro, an Italian architect, whom the Town Hall owes its stunning Renaissance appearance. It was also the time when the mechanism with two butting billy goats, by master Bartłomiej Wolff from Gubin, was installed. Currently, they appear in the tower at high noon, being one of the greatest attractions of the city. The most popular urban legend of Poznań is actually related to the billy goats. After the clock had been made, it was shown to councillors and the province governor. A feast was prepared but due to the carelessness of the kitchen boy venison haunch burnt to a cinder. The kitchen boy stole two billy goats to roast them but they escaped to the Town Hall’s tower, where guests saw them butting on the ledge. The province governor thus ordered to attach a mechanism with tin billy goats to the clock. Every day at noon one can also listen to the bugle call played live from the Town Hall tower. The melody is played every hour by the chimes installed on the middle tower. At present, the Town Hall hosts the Museum of the History of Poznań (a branch of the National Museum). The collection of the Museum includes approximately 12 000 items that document the history of the city since the Middle Ages to the present day.
Merchant Houses – south of the Town Hall there is a row of picturesque colourful houses of different height with charming arcades. These are the so-called Merchant Houses that constitute an exceptionally rare example of medieval terraced commercial buildings. In the Middle Ages wooden stalls were located there with merchants offering smoked and salty fish, salt, candles, torches, and some everyday use objects.
Fara, the Parish Church – one of the most magnificent Baroque sacral buildings in Poland. The construction of the church that belonged to Jesuits began in 1651 and lasted over 50 years. The impressive façade of the church closes the horizon of the street. In bays there are statues of saints, and in the middle there is a figure of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the order of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), with an eagle. The interior of the church impresses visitors with richness of form and lavishness of decoration. Sixteen grand columns, built of artificial marble, mark the nave surrounded with chapels. The decorations of the false dome on the crossing of the nave with the transept, with the scene that depicts greeting Saint Stanislaus of Szczepanów in heaven, leave visitors impressed. Pipe organs – a work of Friedrich Ladegast, a famous 19th century organ builder. The organs have 2600 pipes and weigh 230 tons. The vaults that stretch under the entire church were used in the 20th century for storing wine because of their suitable microclimate. Monks and the benefactors of the collegiate church, as well as parishioners (between 1798 and 1810), used to be buried in the vaults. A part of the internal wall of medieval town fortifications, among others, was discovered in the 1990s.
Royal Castle – in the second half of the 18th century Przemysł I built a ducal castle on the top of the hill, towering over ten metres over the Old Market Square. His son, Przemysł II, the subsequent king of Poland, extended the castle, intending to make it a royal castle in the near future. Despite the tragic death of the king in 1296 the construction was not interrupted and was completed probably during the rule of Casimir III the Great. It was the largest secular building in the country at the time.
Additional information:
Town Hall
Merchant houses
Fara
Royal Castle
