Old Market Square, Poznan, Wielkopolska, Poland.
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.
On the ground floor, as you entered the building from the square, there was the so – called “grand hall” used for commercial and representative purposes. In the back, separated from the house by a small yard, was a small building used as storehouse and workshop.
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