Market Square and Town Hall in Lubomierz

Lubomierz escaped destruction in the Second World War, so its centre has kept the shape of a medieval market town. At its heart is plac Wolności (Freedom Square) – the old market place and main street in one, lined almost entirely with historic houses. Scenes of the comedy Sami swoi were filmed here in 1967, and today a modest pastel town hall with an onion-domed turret stands in the middle.

History: a town hall rebuilt after fires

A town hall already existed in 1349. The Hussites burned it in 1426; rebuilt in 1449, it burned again in the great town fire of 1640, and the next rebuilding took almost a century. The present building went up after a fire in 1803 and was remodelled in 1837 and in the later 19th century. It houses the town authorities.

The houses around the square were originally wooden; after repeated fires they were rebuilt in stone in the 16th century. Dozens of houses on the square are listed monuments, from the 16th to the early 20th century.

What to see

• The town hall – two storeys under a half-hipped roof, with a Baroque turret crowned by an onion dome and lantern. A double flight of steps leads to the first-floor entrance, and two ground-floor rooms keep their stucco-decorated vaults.
• The pillory of 1530, in sandstone, set into the north wall of the town hall.
• The column with St Maternus of 1717 – the town's patron holds a model of the church in his left hand and a metal crozier in his right.
• The group of sculptures in front of the town hall commemorating an epidemic that struck the town in the 18th century.
• The Baker's House (pl. Wolności 31) – its outer walls survive with a foundation tablet of 1584 and the guild emblem, a pretzel.
• The rows of houses, especially on the north and east sides, dating from the 16th to 19th centuries.

Interesting facts

The square appears several times in Sylwester Chęciński's film, and the Kargul and Pawlak Museum next door and a monument to the two heroes recall its screen past. Lubomierz was also a location for the third story of Kazimierz Kutz's Krzyż Walecznych and the series Tajemnica twierdzy szyfrów. Since 1997 the town has hosted the National Comedy Film Festival.

Tripto tip

Start at the town hall and walk round the square, looking into the side lanes that climb towards the Church of the Assumption. Allow an hour for the square and the museum, an hour and a half with the church. Park around the edge of the square. The best photo of the town hall with the church behind is from the east side of the square.