Karol Miarka Square in Katowice

Karol Miarka Square is a green square in the centre of Katowice, on the south side of the railway tracks, with a monument to Stanisław Moniuszko, a fountain and a small market. It was laid out at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, in a period of rapid expansion of the centre.

History of the square

The outline of the square appears on maps only from 1895. It was looked after by the German Town Beautification Society, founded in 1874, but it raised funds from occasional contributions by residents. Around 1910 the Katowice town council gave its first material help for planting trees and laying out a regular green. Until 1922 and in 1939-1945 the square was called Blücherplatz.

The Moniuszko monument

Before the war, on 8 June 1930, a monument to Stanisław Moniuszko carved by Wincenty Chorembalski was unveiled here. It came about on the initiative of the composer and conductor Stefan Marian Stoiński, president of the Union of Silesian Choral Societies. After the war, in 1959, the monument was rebuilt. It is entered in the Register of Memorial Sites of the Silesian Voivodeship.

Greenery and the fountain

On the square grow a yellow-flowered horse chestnut, honey locust, black locust, Sargent's cherry, weeping willow, maples, limes and a hornbeam, and among the shrubs lilacs, mock oranges and spiraeas. After 2000 a fountain called Karlik (the Dwarf) was built, in three parts with twenty-nine nozzles; its name was thought up by twelve-year-old Sebastian Koenig. Beside the square stand tenement houses from the early 20th century, and one of them, at number 6 from 1906, is entered in the heritage register.

Behind the monument, on the western side, a small market sells vegetables, fruit, dairy products and flowers. The square also has a tram terminus.

Near the square

The Cathedral of Christ the King is about 300 m away, and the same distance to the Rialto Cinema-Theatre. A little further, about 700 m away, stands the Silesian Theatre.

Practical information

• Location: Katowice city centre, between Kochanowskiego, Stwosza, Kościuszki and Batorego streets.
• The square is open to everyone; you can reach it by tram to the stop on the square.