Town Hall Square

About this place

Town Hall Square is the heart of Bardejov, a World Heritage town in north-east Slovakia. It is a wide cobbled square lined with narrow houses under red gables, with the town hall in the middle and a large church behind, among the most complete medieval centres in the country. The town grew from an old Slavic settlement, and the first written form of its name dates from 1241. Its core was declared protected in 1950, when extensive restoration began, and in 1986 it won the European Gold Medal, the first town in Czechoslovakia to do so. The walls and fortifications date from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries and are among the best preserved in Slovakia. The town hall was built in 1505, with a Gothic lower floor and a Renaissance upper floor, and stands at the centre of the square. The Church of Saint Aegidius, recorded from 1247 and completed in 1464, rises with its tall dark tower. Coloured fronts line the sides, some with plaster decoration. Behind the square are defensive towers and a walk along the wall. The square is 32.8 km in a straight line north of Prešov and 64.1 km north of Košice. About 2.5 km to the north is the spa of Bardejovské Kúpele with an open-air museum of folk architecture. The ground is cobbled, so bring comfortable shoes. The church is a place of worship, so dress modestly and do not walk around during services. Light is best in the morning, before tours arrive.