Cieszyn Market Square

Cieszyn Market Square is a rectangular square of around 6,800 m², with the St Florian fountain at its centre and a classicist town hall on its south side. It is lined with arcades and townhouses whose history goes back to the 16th century, although their façades changed after successive fires. This is the heart of the town, where decisions were made about the fate of the whole of Cieszyn Silesia.

History: a square created by a duke's decision

Originally, today's Stary Targ served as the market. The present square owes its shape to Duke Casimir II, who on 9 August 1496 sold the townspeople two houses on the "new" market for 210 florins. A town hall with premises for the bakers' and shoemakers' guilds was to be built there, while the old town hall in the middle of the square had to be demolished and the space left free "for all time". Fires in 1552, 1720 and 1789 shaped the buildings: after the first, Renaissance houses with attics went up; after the later ones, Baroque and classicist façades.

The town hall and the fountain

The current town hall opened in 1800, designed by Ignacy Chambrez de Ryvos. On 1 September 1800 a crown was ceremonially placed on the tower; Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen and his wife Maria Christina contributed generously to its completion. After the fire of 1836 the town hall gained a Doric portico and a triangular pediment bearing the town's coat of arms. Documents, photographs, town plans and 44 coins were sealed into the new tower ball hoisted up on 3 October 1984. The St Florian statue on the fountain is attributed to Wacław Donay of Skoczów and is usually dated to 1776.

Townhouses with a story

• The west side has arcades along its entire length – the oldest, 16th-century part of the square's buildings.
• No. 11 is the National House, opened in 1901 as the Polish House; in 1918 the National Council of the Duchy of Cieszyn met here.
• No. 19 has a house mark dated 1573 in the keystone of its entrance-hall vault.
• No. 20 is the former Hotel "Pod Jeleniem" (At the Stag), whose guests included Emperor Joseph II and Tsar Alexander I; in 1919–1920 Inter-Allied commissions on the Polish-Czechoslovak border worked here.

Tripto tips

The square is open around the clock, and you view the town hall and houses from outside. Allow about half an hour for an unhurried walk around the square, including a look under the arcades. From here it is a short walk to Castle Hill and to the bridge over the Olza, with Český Těšín in the Czech Republic on the other side.