Market Square (Rynek) in Bytom

The Market Square (Rynek) in Bytom is a medieval square in the town centre, which today has the shape of a clear rectangle. It was originally a square, and after 1945 it doubled in size. In 2009 the Bytom market square was named among the seven wonders of architecture of the Silesian Voivodeship.

A square after destruction

The market square was laid out in the Middle Ages, but its present form bears little resemblance to the original. It survived fires and invasions, and was nevertheless rebuilt. In the second half of the 19th century, during the rapid growth of the town, a tram line ran across the square. In 1879-1945 the western frontage was occupied by a town hall designed by Paul Jackisch. After the Second World War the block of tenement houses together with the town hall was destroyed, and the square doubled in size.

At the beginning of the 21st century the town revitalised the market square, replacing the paving and installing a fountain in its eastern part. Beneath the paving lie buried remains of medieval cellars in the western part of the square.

The Bytom lion

The best-known detail is the sculpture of a sleeping lion. In 1873 a sculpture commemorating the victims of the Franco-Prussian War from Bytom County was set up here, and according to legend the lion will wake when danger threatens the town. The sculpture was stolen in 1945, and in 2008 a sleeping lion once again stood in the market square. The sculpture, named in the entry as a remnant of the monument to the fallen of the Prussian-French war, is entered in the heritage register (entry from 2013).

Buildings around the market square

On the northern frontage rises the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary from the second half of the 13th century, rebuilt many times. Beneath a pavilion on Strażacka street survive the cellars of the Gorywoda House from the 14th century. On the southern frontage stands the modernist tower block of the Gloria Cinema from 1931, and a tenement house from 1910, designed by the brothers Richard and Paul Ehrlich, is the seat of the Kronika Centre for Contemporary Art. On the northern frontage there is also an Art Nouveau tenement house from the early 20th century, which houses the Bytom Promotion Office.

Onward from the market square

From the square it is easy to go further. About 2.6 km away stands the Szombierki Heat and Power Plant, and about 3 km away Żabie Doły.

Practical information

• Location: Rynek, the centre of Bytom. The square is open to all.
• Several institutions operate around the market square, so check the opening hours of the church and the gallery with their managers.