Technical monuments

Centennial Hall

The Centennial Hall (German: Jahrhunderthalle) is a Wrocław icon of modernism and one of the boldest works of 20th-century architecture. Built in 1911–1913 to a design by Max Berg, it stunned its contemporaries with a reinforced concrete dome 67 metres in diameter — the largest in the world at the time — which still impresses today. In 2006 the building was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, and a year earlier it was declared a Monument of History.

Architecture and history

The hall's surroundings are symbols in their own right: the four-sided Iglica spire from 1948, the Pergola encircling the hall and the Multimedia Fountain, whose evening water-and-light shows (in season) are among the most photographed spectacles in Wrocław. Inside — 42 metres high and 14,000 square metres of floor space — concerts, matches and congresses have thundered for decades; it was here that the World Congress of Intellectuals met in 1948, with Pablo Picasso among the guests. Visits begin at the multimedia Visitor Centre, where virtual reality lets you soar above the dome and the spire.

Surroundings and visit

Tickets for the Visitor Centre (25 zł standard, 45 zł family) can be bought on site or online; in high season admissions are capped and queues form, so come early. The hall is occasionally closed on event days — check the availability calendar at halastulecia.pl before visiting. Strolling the Pergola and watching the fountain show are free; allow 1.5–2 hours for the whole complex including the exhibition.