Market Square in Rybnik

The Market Square (Rynek) in Rybnik was laid out when the town was chartered in the 13th-14th century, on the site of a former pond. Until the end of the 18th century it was surrounded by wooden houses, and today it has compact Neoclassical buildings with Neo-Renaissance and Modernist additions, with the town hall on the western side.

From timber to brick townhouses

Brick buildings appeared on the square only at the end of the 18th century, mainly after the Prussian government bought the Rybnik estate in 1788. According to Idzikowski's chronicle of 1861, all 22 buildings on the square were by then brick, and only one of them was single-storey. In the middle of the square stood the old town hall, demolished in 1823, and the chapel of St John, demolished in the first half of the 19th century.

The town hall and the townhouses

The town hall that still stands was built in 1823, a two-storey, five-bay building with a Neoclassical façade and a tower over the central axis. It houses the Registry Office and the City Museum. The townhouses from the end of the 18th century and the first half of the 19th century show Neoclassical features. In the second half of the 19th century Neo-Renaissance and eclectic buildings were erected, for example Rynek 13 with a richly decorated façade, a Neo-Renaissance oriel and an attic. In the early 20th century the early Modernist department store of Emil Prager (Rynek 5) was built, and in the interwar period several townhouses were rebuilt in the Functionalist spirit.

In 1945 the square suffered little damage; only townhouse no. 16 was destroyed.

The statue of St John of Nepomuk

In the 1990s the statue of St John of Nepomuk from 1736 returned to the square; it had stood here from the first half of the 19th century until the outbreak of the Second World War. Today it crowns a new fountain.

Nearby

A few hundred metres from the square stands the Basilica of St Anthony, and the castle, now the seat of the district court, is right next to it. The Juliusz Educational Centre can be reached on foot.

Practical information

• Location: the centre of Rybnik.
• The square is a public town square, open without a ticket; the museum in the town hall has its own opening hours, so check them before your visit.