Market Square in Piwniczna-Zdrój

When fire swept through Piwniczna in 1876, the only thing to survive from the well on the market square was the statue of St Florian, patron saint of firefighters, which fell into the water. Today it stands on the rebuilt cistern in the middle of a square whose layout has barely changed since the town was founded in the 14th century. The market square of Piwniczna-Zdrój is the small, quiet heart of a spa town in the Poprad valley, ideal for a short stroll before a hike or a visit to the pump room.

History: a town on the road to Hungary

Piwniczna was founded in 1348 by King Casimir the Great under Magdeburg law, as part of a policy of establishing settlements along the then frontier; the founder (zasadźca) was Hanko, a burgher from Nowy Sącz. The settlement was first called Piwniczna Szyja, after a narrow gorge of the Poprad, while the present name is said to come from the northern approach to the town, shaded by thick forest. Its position on a busy trade route to Hungary brought income, and as late as 1786 Piwniczna was described as a place known for its customs houses.

After the First Partition of Poland the town became part of Austrian Galicia. In 1874–1876 the Nowy Sącz – Muszyna railway was built through the valley, but Piwniczna only got a stop in 1908, when the town contributed to its construction. After the 1876 fire, which destroyed the wooden church and about 40 houses, mineral springs were discovered, and the first spa guests arrived in 1884. The town has been called Piwniczna-Zdrój ("Piwniczna Spa") since 1998.

What to see on the square

• The town plan – a four-sided square with streets leaving from its corners, almost unchanged since the town's foundation.
• The cistern of 1913 – formerly a well and later a fire-fighting water tank. The first well was built in 1801. The surviving statue of St Florian stands on the rebuilt cistern, and a portrait of Casimir the Great is painted on one of its finials.
• The town hall on one side of the square, which grew out of a 19th-century guardhouse.
• 19th-century town houses – one of the houses still has Gothic cellars where Hungarian wine was once stored. Local legend tells of tunnels running all the way under Niemcowa hill.
• The Regional Museum of the Society of Friends of Piwniczna, in the municipal cultural centre on the square – costumes of the local "Black Highlanders" (górale czarni), handicrafts, copies of the town charters and more than 300 items from the history of skiing, including 18th-century skis and a ski donated by ski-jumping champion Adam Małysz.

Interesting facts

For years a historic fire engine stood on the cistern, but in 2020 it was moved to the fire station in Kosarzyska, so do not look for it on the square. The volunteer fire brigade in Piwniczna has existed since 1896, which suits a square whose main monument honours the firefighters' patron saint.

Tripto tip

The square is a public space, open at all times; allow 15–20 minutes for a walk around it, or about an hour including the museum. We could not confirm the museum's opening hours on an official website, so ask at the cultural centre. The Spa Park with its pump room, where you can taste the local "Piwniczanka" mineral water, is close by. The town is a base for trails in the Beskid Sądecki, including Eliaszówka (1,024 m) with an observation tower from which you can see the Tatras on a clear day. You can get here on national road 87 from Nowy Sącz or by train along the Poprad.