Market Square in Racibórz

The Market Square (Rynek) in Racibórz is a large, rectangular square in the town centre, open to the north towards the Ostróg district. It was the central square of the medieval town layout and is still its main public space.

The former buildings in the middle of the square

In the Middle Ages the middle of the square was built up. There stood a town hall, mentioned in 1361, a merchants' house known from a document of 1313, and masonry cloth halls around it, recorded in 1293. The square was also filled with stalls, booths and benches. In 1488 a fire destroyed the eastern side, the town hall and the traders' booths. The buildings in the middle of the square most probably disappeared after the fire of 1722, and since then the square has been open. The oldest plan of the square dates from 1750 and shows three streets leading away from it: Odrzańska, Nowa and Rzeźnicza.

The column and the townhouses

In the centre stands the late Baroque Column of the Virgin Mary, made in 1725-1727 by the Austrian artist Johann Melchior Österreich. Merchant families lived around the square: Franz Liszt gave a piano concert on 29 May 1846 in the townhouse on the site of today's Bolko department store, and King Frederick William IV of Prussia stopped on 10 October 1846, while travelling through, in the Gaszyna villa. Pharmacies operated by the square from the 17th century, and the one "Pod Złotym Aniołem" (At the Golden Angel) worked continuously from 1694 to 1945.

The destruction of 1945

In 1945 the square was badly damaged: the town hall and many buildings burned down, and only one building survived (Rynek 3). The first building rebuilt after the war was the PKO bank headquarters, in 1949. The western side was rebuilt later, with an attempt to keep the shape of the former buildings; the cloth halls were decorated with Neo-Renaissance attics, while the stylised cloth halls on the opposite side of the square were not recreated.

Nearby

By the square stand the churches of St James and of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and not far away are the Racibórz Museum and the castle on the Oder. On the other side, a road leads to the Roth City Park.

Practical information

• Location: the centre of Racibórz, open to the north onto the Ostróg district.
• The square is a public town square, open without a ticket.