Market Square in Tarnów

Tarnów Market Square (Tarnów is pronounced roughly "TAR-noof") is the heart of a city that Poles like to call the "pearl of the Renaissance." Laid out in 1330, the square is lined with arcaded and gabled townhouses and centered on a striking town hall crowned with a red-brick parapet and grotesque stone masks. It is one of the best-preserved Renaissance town squares in southern Poland and an easy, rewarding day trip from Kraków.

A bit of history

The square covers about 0.66 hectares and slopes gently to the south. Fires repeatedly swept through it (notably in 1663, 1735 and 1792), so the houses mix Renaissance, baroque and 19th-century features. The whole historic center was placed on the heritage register as early as 1934.

The town hall grew out of two buildings put up after a fire in 1494. Its current look dates from a rebuild that began in 1558, under the powerful Tarnowski family: that is when the tall decorative parapet and the round upper tower (about 28 m high) were added. It has housed a museum since 1931.

The square also witnessed tragedy. Between June 11 and 19, 1942, German forces murdered around 3,000 Jews from the Tarnów ghetto here and in the surrounding streets. Before the war, Jews made up a large part of the city's population, and traces of the Jewish quarter survive just northeast of the square.

Things to do on the square

• Study the town hall parapet — 28 blind arches with portraits of the Leliwa-Tarnowski family and 14 stone masks, said to match the number of city councillors.
• Climb the tower for views over the rooftops toward the foothills of the Carpathians.
• See the Commons Hall (Sala Pospólstwa) upstairs, where city officials were elected; it holds bells from 1631.
• Look for the tower clock, whose mechanism dates from after the fire of 1663 and is considered the oldest working tower clock in the Małopolska region.
• Walk under the arcades of houses 19–21, the only surviving Renaissance arcades, now home to the Museum of the History of Tarnów and the Region.

Opening hours and tickets (as of October 2026)

The square itself is open around the clock and free. The Town Hall Museum – Gallery of Old Art, run by the Museum of the Tarnów Land, keeps winter hours from October 1 to April 30: Tuesday–Thursday 9 am–3 pm, Friday 9 am–5 pm, Sunday 10 am–2 pm, closed Saturday and Monday. From May to September it also opens on Saturdays (10 am–3 pm) and until 3 pm on Sundays.

Tickets are priced in Polish złoty (PLN): 12 PLN standard, 9 PLN reduced, 28 PLN family; the tower alone costs 14/9 PLN, the town hall plus tower 20/14 PLN. Permanent exhibitions are free on Wednesdays. An English-speaking guide can be booked at least three working days ahead. Allow 1.5–2 hours for the square, the museum and the tower.

How to get there

Tarnów lies about 80 km east of Kraków on the A4 motorway; Kraków's airport is the closest international gateway. Trains from Kraków run frequently, and the walk from Tarnów station to the square takes around 15 minutes. If you drive, use the paid parking zones around the Old Town, as the square is pedestrianized.

Is it worth visiting?

Yes, especially if you want a Renaissance town without Kraków's crowds. Combine the square with the cathedral next door and the remains of the Jewish quarter for a satisfying half day.