Old towns & squares

Market Square in Ustroń

The market square in Ustroń looks nothing like the squares of most Polish towns. There are no medieval townhouses or merchant arcades, because it was created only after the site of the former bus station was revitalised. Today it is a modern public space with an illuminated fountain, steps and benches, framed by the town hall and a concert shell used for summer events. Ustroń itself lies at the foot of Czantoria (995 m) and Równica (884 m) and is one of only two spa towns in the Silesian Voivodeship.

A square with photographic memory

The most distinctive element of the new structure is a canopy shaped like a small amphitheatre. On its rear wall hangs a huge black-and-white photograph of an Ustroń street from the interwar period. It is a way of keeping a trace of the town's older views within fresh architecture — the town's name appears in documents as early as the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries.

The library and its 500 m² mural

The façade of the public library by the square carries one of the largest murals in Poland — about 500 m² across seven walls. The main painting recreates the vaulted interior of the famous library in Dublin, with bookshelves reaching high up. Next to it you can find pre-war photographs of Ustroń: the town hall, a natural therapy facility and a shelter below Czantoria, plus a portrait of Jan Wantuła, a local bibliophile and the library's patron.

In practice

The square sits at the junction of Daszyńskiego and Brody streets, in the Ustroń Centrum district. It is a calm walking space that pairs well with a trip up Czantoria or a stroll through the spa quarters of the town.