Pszczyna Market Square

Every day at noon a bugle call rings out over the market square in Pszczyna, but it is not a solemn fanfare: it is based on a cheeky local folk song. The square, stretched from east to west, is one of the largest in southern Poland and keeps its medieval street layout. At its western end, the Brama Wybrańców gate leads straight into the castle courtyard.

A marketplace on a trade route

The settlement that became Pszczyna grew up along the road from Kraków via Oświęcim towards the Moravian Gate, which is why the marketplace ran along an east–west axis from the start. The square took on its present rectangular shape in the 14th and 15th centuries, when the town was enclosed by timber and earth defences. Their line is still traced by ulica Warowna, Piwowarska and Basztowa.

The first houses were wooden and burned down many times. The first brick buildings on the square were the town hall and the Lutheran church, both on the north side. After the last great fire in 1748, the wooden houses were replaced with brick ones, and the layout has stayed the same ever since. The best-preserved continuous row of 18th- and 19th-century houses is on the south side.

A town hall bought second-hand

The seat of the town council is in fact a former townhouse, which the town bought in 1716 from the widow of Mateusz Janik for 110 Rhenish guilders. The building probably dated from 1658 and survived the fires of 1679 and 1748. A clock tower was added in 1738, another storey in 1861, and the town hall got its present neo-Renaissance look after a rebuild in 1931. Its facades were added to the heritage register in 2020.

What to look for

• Brama Wybrańców (Gate of the Chosen) – built in 1687 in late Renaissance style, as confirmed by the chronogram above the entrance. Legend has it that the first "chosen ones" guarding the castle were two outlaws pardoned by the prince, Eliasz and Pistulka, commemorated by stone figures.
• Frykówka – a Baroque corner house on the north side, at the corner of ulica Ratuszowa, once a wine house.
• The Lutheran church adjoining the town hall, built in 1743–1746.
• Princess Daisy's bench from 2009 at the western end of the square, and a replica of the old well.
• Plane trees planted in the 1990s and a small fountain plaza at the eastern end.

Did you know?

In 1922 a triumphal arch was put up at the western end of the square, through which the Polish Army made its ceremonial entry into the town on 29 June. That is where ulica Wojska Polskiego (Polish Army Street), into which the square narrows, gets its name. The last redesign of the square's surface, which covers 0.32 hectares, was preceded by archaeological excavations in 2015. The square has been on the heritage register since 1967.

Tripto tip

Be on the square just before noon to hear the bugle call, then walk through Brama Wybrańców to the castle and park. In May the square hosts the "Ogrody Daisy" garden show, and in winter an ice rink is set up. Half an hour is enough for the square itself, but as a base for exploring Pszczyna, plan a full day. The pedestrian ulica Piastowska leads from here to the Silesian Press Museum.