Sławków Market Square

Sławków Market Square is the heart of a former town of the Bishops of Kraków, which grew rich on lead and silver and on the trade route from Kraków to Wrocław. In the square stands a town hall of 1905, and on one side the wooden Austeria, an old Polish inn with a columned arcade that still operates as a restaurant. It is a quiet spot where traces of eight centuries fit into a single square.

History: a bishops' town

Sławków appears in the records in 1220, when Bishop Iwo Odrowąż granted the income from Sławków's inns to the monastery in Prądnik near Kraków. The first document calling it a town dates from 1286. Deposits of lead and silver and its position on the Via Regia trade route brought prosperity in the 13th century. Raids and a great fire in 1498 followed later. In 1870 Sławków lost its town rights and regained them only in 1958.

The Austeria – an inn with a royal anecdote

Its official name was the "Austeria Miejska w Sławkowie Pierwochą Zwana" – the Town Inn of Sławków called Pierwocha. "Pierwocha" may have meant the oldest inn or a first-class one. Archaeological research uncovered 13th-century foundations here, but it is not known whether an inn already stood on the spot at that time. The building's present appearance dates from the 18th century; the date on a ceiling beam reads either 1701 or 1781. In 1862 the inn was nearly demolished because of its poor condition – it was saved by leaseholders Izrael Blumenfelt and Salomon Frydman, who undertook to repair it in return for a 20-year lease. According to accounts, on 27–29 August 1697 King Augustus II the Strong feasted in Sławków and is said to have broken a silver cup with his bare hands.

Town hall and chapel

The first town hall, from the second half of the 18th century, was single-storey, with a mansard roof and arcades on columns on all sides. The present building opened in 1905 after a thorough rebuilding. Plaques on the façade commemorate events including the Sławków Republic, and by the entrance stands a marble monument from 1985 in the form of an open book, bearing the names of residents killed and murdered in 1939–1945. In the square you will also see a wooden chapel of St Florian with a shingle roof.

Tripto tips

The square is open around the clock, and half an hour is enough to walk around it. The Austeria (Rynek 2) operates as a restaurant, so the easiest way to see inside is to stop for a meal. The red and blue hiking trails meet on the square, so you can carry on into the countryside around the town.