Market Square in Woźniki

Woźniki received market rights around 1270, making it one of the oldest towns in Upper Silesia. Its market square keeps its medieval layout, protected as a heritage site together with the houses lining it. On the square stand a town hall built after the town regained its charter, a monument to Józef Lompa and the parish church of St Catherine.

History: a small town on the border

Woźniki lay on a branch of the trade route from Kraków to Wrocław, and after the Silesian Wars on the Prussian–Russian border, with a customs post. From 1483 to 1598 the town kept a register regarded as the first Polish town book – entries in Polish appear in it from 1521. In 1798 fire destroyed almost the whole town, and the industrial boom of the 19th century passed Woźniki by – which is why it kept its small-town character.

After the area became Prussian, the town temporarily lost its charter. Thanks to mayor Julius Radlik, Woźniki regained equal status with other towns in 1858, and a town hall was built in 1858–1862.

What to see

• The town hall – a two-storey building with a triangular pediment and the word "Ratusz", built 1858–1862, at Rynek 11.
• The Józef Lompa monument – a bust on a granite plinth inscribed as the "awakener and promoter of Polishness in Silesia". Lompa (1797–1863), a teacher, writer and collector of Silesian folk tales, moved to Woźniki in 1858 and died here in poverty.
• St Catherine's Church – with its onion-domed tower and the chapel of St John of Nepomuk.
• The fountain – in a green patch in the middle of the square, ringed by benches.

Did you know?

In 1815 Tsar Alexander I passed through Woźniki on his way to the Congress of Vienna. Lompa recorded about 191 Silesian tales and legends; before coming to Woźniki he taught for some 30 years in nearby Lubsza and was dismissed by the Prussian authorities for his Polish national activities.

Tripto tip

Allow 20–30 minutes for the square. Then walk about a kilometre south to the cemetery with the wooden church of St Valentine, where Lompa is buried. Grojec Hill in Psary is also close by.