Market Square in Darłowo

Above the entrance to Darłowo's town hall hangs a stone tablet that sums up the town's history in a few lines – and ends by saying the town hall was rebuilt in 1725, "and let it be for the last time". The wish came true: the town council still works in the same building on the market square, now Kościuszko Square. In front of it stands a fountain with a fisherman holding a ship's hull – a reminder of the days when Darłowo's wealth came from the Baltic.

History: a town hall that was a market hall

The old town owes its regular, almost square street grid to the second charter of Darłowo in 1312. The first town hall was probably built on the square at the end of the 14th century; it had a tall, slender tower with a bell and still appears on Lubinus's map of 1618. It burned down in the great fire of 1722, and the authorities moved into the rebuilt market halls closer to St Mary's Church. The halls were joined and given an extra storey in 1725 – the origin of today's two-storey town hall with a mansard roof and symmetrical façade. The interiors are not historic, so all the attention goes to the entrance.

What to look for

• The sandstone portal – its upper part was moved from the burnt town hall. It bears the town arms with the fish-tailed griffin and a Latin inscription listing the 1312 privileges and the great fires of 1589, 1624, 1648, 1675 and 1722.
• The Fisherman's Monument of 1919 – also a fountain. It was funded by the Heptenmacher family, owners of a fleet of sailing ships and cargo vessels, and made by the German artist Wilhelm Gross.
• Four red-bronze reliefs on the pedestal: a knight pointing out where the town was founded, dockers loading a sailing ship, a Hanseatic vessel, and a shepherd with sheep beside a woman with geese – goose meat was one of Darłowo's exports.
• The 18th-century house at Kościuszki Square 17, with arcades on five pillars facing Powstańców Warszawskich Street.

Tripto tip

The square is open around the clock, and 15–20 minutes is enough for the portal and the fountain reliefs. Walk all the way round the fountain – each relief shows a different scene, and the dockers are on the north side. The square makes a good starting point: St Mary's Gothic church and the Castle of the Pomeranian Dukes are a few minutes' walk away; the castle was begun in 1352 under Bogislaw V and has housed a museum since 1930. From here you can also walk to the High Gate, one of the few surviving parts of the town fortifications.