Market Square in Maków Podhalański

On the rim of a fountain sits a bronze woman in folk dress, bent over her embroidery, while water spurts from three stone poppy heads behind her. It sums up what Maków Podhalański is known for: white embroidery and the poppy in its coat of arms. The square is green and calm today, but fires and floods have reshaped it several times.

History: from timber houses to a green square

The square has been the centre of Maków since the 18th century – before that the lower Old Market Square (Stary Rynek) was the main square. Until the 19th century the buildings around it were wooden. The first brick buildings appeared at the end of that century: the National Embroidery School in 1896 and the town hall in 1898. A fire in 1916 destroyed 56 buildings on the square and Kościelna street. After a flood in 1934 the square became a meadow, and after the Second World War a small park with trees, paths and benches. A local flood in July 2001 caused more damage, after which the square was restored.

What to see

• The Embroiderer statue and the Coat-of-Arms Fountain – unveiled on 30 June 2018 for the town's 640th anniversary. The bronze is by Wiesław Kwak. Water flows from three poppy heads on a marble base onto poppy leaves set in a basin.
• The Baroque statue of the Immaculate Virgin Mary from the 18th century, on a column in the northern part of the square.
• The Monument to the Unknown Soldier and Victims of War of 2002 in the southern part.
• The former town hall with the date 1898 on its gable.

Maków embroidery in brief

It is a flat embroidery stitched in white thread on white linen, with cut-work holes and plant motifs, used on tablecloths, napkins and bed linen. The tradition is carried on by the St John of Kęty school, successor to the embroidery school of 1896, and examples can be seen in the Regional Chamber in the Paczosówka villa.

Tripto tip

Allow 20–30 minutes for the square. Walk a few minutes further to the Old Market Square between two streams – a lime tree there carries a shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes – and from there along Kościelna street to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Maków. The busy national road 28 runs along the southern side of the square, so with children stick to the paths in the northern part.