Market Square, Wrocław

The Market Square (Polish: Rynek, German: Großer Ring) is a medieval market square located in Wrocław, Poland. The square is rectangular with the dimensions 213 by 178 metres (699 ft × 584 ft) and serves as a pedestrian zone. It is one of the largest market squares in Europe, with the largest two city halls in Poland.
The Market Square is one of the three historic market squares in the city's old town, next to the Salt Market Square and the New Market Square. The buildings around the square are built according to different styles: the middle part of the ring is occupied by a block of buildings consisting of the Old City Hall, the New City Hall, as well as numerous citizens' houses. The market square is an urban ensemble with the two diagonally contiguous areas, the Salt Market Square and the square in front of St. Elizabeth's Church. Eleven streets lead to the market: two to each corner, two narrow lanes, and an open outside square, Kurzy Targ (lit. 'Chicken Market').
The market was founded according to Magdeburg law as early as the rule of Polish Duke Henry I the Bearded between 1214 and 1232. Over time, the patricians' houses appeared and by the middle of the 14th century they had formed a closed construction with the limits of the plots defined. In the 19th century the square was connected to the tram lines, at first a horse-drawn system, but after 1892 electric.
During World War II, the market square was damaged, however, most of the buildings remained intact and were carefully restored. Through to the end of the 1970s, vehicles were able to drive through along an east–west axis. Between 1996 and 2000 the square was resurfaced, while the east side, the last to be accessible to cars, was pedestrianized.
There are now 60 numbered plots on the market square, with some buildings occupying several. The limits of the plots often follow lines different from those first laid out since estates were often merged and divided in the late Middle Ages. Each property has a traditional name, usually associated with the coat of arms visible on the facade or related to the history of the house itself, for instance Under the Griffins, Under the Blue Sun and Old Town Hall (tenement house, which collects the city council before the construction of the first town hall; now there is a McDonald).
The layout of the Market Square is associated with the earliest settlement on the left bank of the Oder River within Wrocław's current boundaries. According to art historian Marian Morelowski, in the first half of the 13th century, before the Market Square was established, a building used for selling cloth stood in this location. This building was likely erected significantly earlier than the surrounding market buildings, which were constructed at an angle inconsistent with the street alignment. Jerzy Hawrot mentions the existence of the first settlement on Wrocław's left bank, stretching along today’s Wita Stwosza Street from St. Adalbert’s Church to St. Mary Magdalene’s Church. Another east–west route passed through Wita Stwosza and St. Nicholas streets. Around 1232, Duke Henry the Bearded established the town with the Main Market Square, featuring stalls; a second settlement charter was granted between 1241 and March 11, 1242, by Bolesław Rogatka. The final legal regulation occurred in 1261, when Henry III and his brother Władysław replaced the old privileges with new ones.
The Market Square was laid out on a flat, Pleistocene erosion remnant, with its northern boundary marked by a flood-eroded edge of the Oder River and its southern boundary defined by a shallow depression formed by floodwaters. This terrace stood at an altitude of 117 meters above sea level, approximately 6.5 meters above the river's water level. According to Małgorzata Chorowska, the square was oriented latitudinally in line with the Via Regia trade route, connecting France, Flanders, the Rhineland, central Germany, southern Poland, and Ruthenia.
Originally, the Wrocław Market Square was laid out as a plaza measuring 600 × 480 feet, and with the inclusion of adjoining streets (each 30 feet wide), it reached dimensions of 660 × 540 feet. Over the centuries, these dimensions changed; today, they are approximately 652–658 × 540–543 feet, or 204–206 × 169–170 meters, with a total area of 3.64 hectares. The differences in length result from adjustments to the southern and western frontages. The southern frontage is now three meters shorter due to the western section from St. Dorothy's Passage to Solny Square: the western wall of corner building No. 12 previously extended further towards today’s Solny Square. A similar adjustment occurred along the western block, now 2.7 meters shorter than originally planned. The last two southern corner plots, now occupied by Santander Bank Polska (as of 2021), were vacant until at least 1550, which may have shifted the original property boundary.
The plots surrounding the Market Square were divided into thirty-six equal townhouses: ten on the north and south sides, and eight on the west and east. Each plot was 60 feet wide (18.78 meters), with a depth of 120 feet (37.56 meters) for the shorter frontages and 240 feet (75 meters) for the longer ones. Jerzy Piekalski divided the designated lots into five zones:
This division was not rigid, and plots could vary in layout. Paweł Konczewski simplified these areas into three main sections: the front building, the rear zone, and the utility-storage area.
By the 19th century, plots had been subdivided into smaller halves and quarters and subsequently recombined, ultimately forming sixty lots, five of which now have dual numbering. The south and north blocks initially lacked passageways. A passage was opened from Więzienna Street likely in the 13th century, and another passage leading to the then Szubieniczna Street (later St. Dorothy's, now Jerzy Grotowski's Alley) was established in the mid-14th century. Similarly, the eastern frontage was later intersected by Kurzy Targ Street. In the early 13th century, wooden buildings stood here, and Kurzy Targ Street was designated in the 1250s to connect the Market Square to St. Mary Magdalene's Church. Roland Mruczek determined 1481 as the upper limit for setting this street, marking the date when the building at Kurzy Targ No. 5 was erected. Another original passage, now built over, existed between Rynek 4 and Rynek 5.
In 1995, a thorough renovation of the Market Square's pavement was carried out. This work uncovered the foundations of the old Great Scales, the original level of the Market Square, and foundations of medieval cloth halls and stalls. The project was designed by Róża and Tomasz Myczkowski.
The inner block stands with an alignment which varies by 7° from that of the outline of the square and surrounding street plan. The reason for this variation has not been established conclusively.
A prominent element of the block is the late-Gothic Old City Hall, located on its southern side. The structure is one of the city's most recognisable landmarks, particularly for its distinctive eastern facade. To the Old Town Hall is adjacent New Town Hall, built in the years 1860–1864.
At the turn of the 19th and 20th century, two-thirds of buildings in the middle of the square, were demolished and replaced by offices and retail establishments designed in Historicism and Modern styles.
During World War II, although much of the city was destroyed or damaged, the market did not suffer much damage. The square was restored according to the way it looked in the late 18th century, using Baroque and Classicism styles.
In the buildings on the middle square there are three parallel small streets (Sukiennice, Przejście Żelaźnicze, Przejście Garncarskie) and one perpendicular to them (Zaułek Jerzego Grotowskiego).
The east side was historically known as the "Green Pipe Side" (German: Grüne-Rohr-Seite), referring to the verdigris on the copper gutters and downpipes. Its name in Polish is Strona Zielonej Trzciny ("Green Reed Side"). Opposite the main facade of the Town Hall, the east side comprises the houses no. 29 through 41. Notable buildings include the old Barasch Brothers' Department Store, now Feniks Department Store (street no. 29-41).
In 1931, on the west side of the Market Square, at location tenement houses 9 to 11, architect Heinrich Rump designed a modernist and controversial high office building (now the Santander Bank Polska, formerly the seat of MPK Wrocław).