Old Town Market Square
On Gingerguide's self-guided Warsaw audio tour, Old Town Market Square is a stop worth about ~40 min. Stand in front of it, press play for a short narrated story, and put any follow-up question to the built-in AI guide.
- Type square
- Suggested visit ~40 min
- Warsaw Warsaw guide
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About Old Town Market Square
The colourful heart of Warsaw's Old Town, ringed by tall merchant houses with the bronze Mermaid at its centre, and famous because the whole square was rebuilt from rubble after the war.
The Old Town Market Square, the Rynek Starego Miasta, is the oldest part of Warsaw and for five centuries was the city's beating heart. Laid out when the town was founded in the late thirteenth century, it measures about ninety metres by seventy, and its four sides each carry the name of a notable Pole: Dekert, Barss, Kołłątaj and Zakrzewski. A town hall once stood in the middle, pulled down in 1817; in its place stands the bronze Warsaw Mermaid, sword and shield raised, the symbol of the city.
What you see is a careful illusion. The square was bombed in 1939 and, after the 1944 Uprising, German squads blew up what remained of the Old Town. Between 1948 and 1953 it was rebuilt to look as it had in the seventeenth century, when rich merchant families lived here, the reconstruction office sifting original bricks and carvings from the rubble and working from old drawings and the city views of Bernardo Bellotto. In 1980 UNESCO inscribed the Old Town as an outstanding example of near-total reconstruction.
Did you know? After the 1944 Uprising, German squads deliberately blew up the Old Town; the whole square was rebuilt between 1948 and 1953 and listed by UNESCO in 1980 as an example of near-total reconstruction.
How much time do you need at Old Town Market Square?
Around ~40 min works well for Old Town Market Square — time to look properly and listen to its story on the spot. Linger if you like; nothing on a self-guided walk is on a clock.
Should you stop at Old Town Market Square?
Yes — Old Town Market Square made the cut as one of 13 places the Gingerguide team researched and narrated across Warsaw. The story tells you why it is worth the stop, and the AI guide fills in anything you still wonder.
Nearby stops in Warsaw
Sources and further reading
Where to check the facts about Old Town Market Square and read more:
Day 1 of the Warsaw in 2 days itinerary →
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Hear the story of Old Town Market Square
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