Walk in Warsaw: Old Town
Sirene monument in Old Town square, Warsaw / Franciszek Mazur / Agencja Gazeta
Old Town Square
The Old Town Square was founded together with the 1st building of the city at the turn of the 14th Century, when the first buildings surrounding the square were wooden. It wasn't until the 15th Century that they were replaced by unplastered Gothic brick townhouses, generally 2 storeys high. They were inhabited by rich townsmen whose wealth is reflected in the price of the buildings, which at the end of the 16th Century were as high as 4000 zloties. At this time, houses in other parts of the city cost a few hundred zloties and the houses of the poor riverside fishermen were worth about 60 zloties. The Old Town Square was an important centre of the community - in the 15th century a brick city hall was built here but later taken down in 1817. Trade, public performances, celebrations and executions all took place near the city hall. The authorities set up a permanent chain pillory (jougs), where petty criminals, like thieves, swindlers and prostitutes, were chained in public view. Gallows or an execution block were also set up here if necessary. A nobleman suspected of murder had his head chopped off here, prisoners were tortured and even heretical literature was burnt here. In 1855, when mains water was installed in the houses, a fountain with a mermaid monument by Konstanty Hegel was set up in the square in the place of the old city hall. Two wells standing next to the monument are still here todays well as an outline of the old city hall and market stalls in the cobblestones. During the Warsaw Uprising most of the townhouses were totally demolished and it took until 1953 to rebuild them. Today the square has 4 frontages and each has a different historical figure as its patron. The south frontage is called the Ignacy Wyssogota-Zakrzewski, the east Franciszek Barssa, the west Hugon Kołłątaj and the north Jan Dekert. There are 38 townhouses around the square and the most interesting are the Gizińska House where the PAN History Institute is housed, the Montelupich House (with the entrance to the Warsaw History Museum) as well as the Fukier, Długoszowska, Bornbachów, Pod Murzynkiem and Pod Fortuna Houses. The Adam Mickiewicz Literature Museum is in the Winklerowska House.