Description of the attraction
The Market Square is a medieval square in Wroclaw, currently the central part of the pedestrian zone. The square is a rectangle measuring 213 x 178 meters. This is one of the largest market squares in Europe.
The buildings surrounding the square belong to different historical periods. The market occupies the central part of the square together with the Town Hall building.
The market square was founded under Henry I between 1214 and 1232. Gradually, the square was built up with various buildings, creating a closed space, to which 11 city streets lead. The most important buildings in the central part of the square were built in the 13th century. This part was one of the few legal trading places in the city, and the first large shops were built here. In 1821, the house of textiles was demolished and neoclassical buildings appeared in its place.
In the 19th century, trams appeared on the square, which were first driven by horses, and since 1892 by electricity.
At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, some of the buildings were demolished and replaced with commercial premises, which were already built in a modern style. Destroyed during the Second World War, the square was reconstructed in accordance with how it looked in the 18th century - in the era of Baroque and Classicism.
The main attraction of the square is the Town Hall. Despite the fact that the construction of the Town Hall began in the 13th century, various modifications continued until the end of the 16th century, which caused an exquisite mixture of several architectural styles at once.
