Rynek Starego Miasta, Warsaw

Rynek Starego Miasta is the broad rectangular market square at the heart of Warsaw’s Old Town. Its plan measures 90 by 73 metres, and eight streets emerge from its corners, giving the space a remarkably clear, ordered shape. The square was laid out at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries, when Old Warsaw was founded, and it became the town’s centre for administration and trade.

Look along the surrounding façades: these town houses are not untouched medieval survivors. Most were destroyed during the Warsaw Uprising, then carefully reconstructed between 1949 and 1953, using surviving stone details. The houses on the Dekert side endured better because their reinforced-concrete floors resisted fire; today they accommodate the Museum of Warsaw.

The open space has also witnessed executions and political demonstrations. A town hall with a tall tower once stood here, surrounded by stalls, until the building was demolished in 1817. In 1855, a fountain bearing a sculpture of the Warsaw Mermaid by Konstanty Hegel took its place. Beneath several of the houses, cellar rooms now form part of the Old Town Cellars Cultural Route, adding a hidden layer beneath this carefully rebuilt square.