Old Town Market Square in Warsaw

The town houses around Warsaw's Old Town Market Square look centuries old, but most are about 70 years old. After the 1944 Warsaw Uprising the square lay in ruins, and in 1949–1953 it was rebuilt so faithfully that in 1980 the Historic Centre of Warsaw was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List — as an example of near-total reconstruction. The 90 by 73 metre rectangle is still the heart of the Old Town, with café terraces, the Mermaid statue and the Museum of Warsaw.

History: town hall, fire and executions

The square was laid out around 1300, when Old Warsaw received its town charter, parallel to the Vistula and to the main road along today's Świętojańska and Nowomiejska streets. Two streets leave each corner at right angles — eight in total. From 1429 at the latest, a town hall with a tall tower stood in the middle, surrounded by market stalls, with a pillory on the north side. A great fire in 1607 destroyed 22 houses; the rebuilding gave the square a shape that survived until 1944. It was also a place of execution: on 3 January 1665 Konstanty Kotowski and three other leaders of a soldiers' confederation were beheaded here, and on 9 May 1794 the leaders of the Targowica Confederation — magnates who had sided with Russia — were hanged. The town hall was pulled down in 1817.

The Mermaid and the four sides

In 1855, when Henryk Marconi's waterworks opened, a fountain with Konstanty Hegel's Mermaid (Syrenka) was placed in the middle of the square — today the best-known symbol of the city. In 1915 each side was named after a notable 18th-century townsman:

• Dekert Side (north, nos. 28–42) — now entirely occupied by the Museum of Warsaw,
• Barss Side (east, nos. 2–26) — home to the Adam Mickiewicz Museum of Literature,
• Kołłątaj Side (west, nos. 15–31),
• Zakrzewski Side (south, nos. 1–13), facing the Royal Castle.

Rebuilt from rubble

During the Warsaw Uprising almost all the buildings were destroyed — mainly the houses on the Dekert Side survived, thanks to fire-proof reinforced-concrete ceilings. The reconstruction drew on sources including the 18th-century city views by Bernardo Bellotto, known as Canaletto, and reused surviving fragments: the portals of nos. 21 and 31, Gothic niches (nos. 31 and 40) and painted decorations (nos. 20 and 40). The rebuilt houses gained bathrooms they had never had before the war, and all roofs were covered with ceramic tiles. The square reopened on 22 July 1953. A renovation completed in 2016 restored the 1950s façade colours of the museum houses.

Did you know?

• Cellars beneath eight houses on the Dekert Side and the Burbach House are open to visitors along the Old Town Cultural Cellars Trail.
• Until 1784 the houses had no numbers — people knew them by their owners' names or house signs, such as "Under the Basilisk" (no. 5).
• In 1913 the market moved away to Mariensztat. The square is the main setting of Bolesław Prus's short story "Widziadła" ("Phantoms").

Tripto tip

An hour is enough for the square and a coffee; allow half a day for the whole Old Town with the Royal Castle and the city walls. Early in the morning the square is almost empty and the façade decorations are easiest to see; in the evening restaurant terraces fill much of it. To understand how this "new old town" came about, visit the Museum of Warsaw on the Dekert Side — check opening hours and tickets on the museum's website before you go.