Town hall
Renaissance loggias.
Dennis G. Jarvis — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Dennis G. Jarvis — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Dennis G. Jarvis — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Mateusz.woźniak — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Bärbel Miemietz — CC BY-SA 4.0
The Old Market Square is the heart of the Old Town of Poznań in western Poland, about 239 km east of Berlin and 278 km west of Warsaw in a straight line. It is the third-largest market square in Poland, after those of Kraków and Wrocław. The square was laid out around 1253, when the town received its charter on the left bank of the Warta river; each side is about 140 metres long and was originally divided into 16 equal plots. In the middle stands a group of buildings led by the Old Town Hall, one of the finest Renaissance buildings in Central Europe. Rows of tall old townhouses line the square, many of them now restaurants and cafés. The white town hall facade carries three tiers of arcaded loggias and a tower with a clock. In front of it stand the small, narrow merchants' houses in bright colours, and fountains named after ancient gods, Neptune, Proserpina, Apollo and Mars, are spread around the square. Every day at noon two metal goats come out above the town hall clock and butt heads twelve times, a show that gathers visitors in the square. Poznań is known for its «rogal», a croissant filled with white poppy seed, eaten above all on St Martin's Day in November.
Renaissance loggias.
At noon.
Merchants' houses.
Old Town, Poznań, western Poland
Every day at 12 noon.
The «rogal» croissant with white poppy seed.