Antonis van Obberghen
The Flemish architect who gave Gdańsk its Dutch character.
A late sixteenth-century town hall on the Radunia Canal, built to serve the Old Town of Gdańsk — a district separate from the Main Town that visitors know. Gdańsk consisted of several legally independent towns, each with its own council, laws and town hall: the Main Town, the Old Town, the Young Town and Osiek. They were administratively united only in the eighteenth century. This explains why one city holds two town halls, which puzzles a visitor who finds the town hall in two places. The building is by Antonis van Obberghen, the Flemish architect who also designed the Great Armoury and the Zeughaus — his work is what gives Gdańsk its Dutch character. It survived the destruction of 1945 better than most of the city, and is today a cultural centre. Entry to the hall and exhibitions is normally free.
The Flemish architect who gave Gdańsk its Dutch character.
Which puzzles a visitor who finds it in two places.
Better than most of the old city.
Korzenna street, the Old Town
St Nicholas's BasilicaA thirteenth-century Dominican church north of the old town, and the only church4 min walk
St Catherine's ChurchThe oldest church in Gdańsk, originating in the thirteenth century, north of the4 min walkBecause medieval towns were legal entities granted their privileges by charter, and expansion meant founding a new town beside the old rather than extending its boundary. The Main Town was founded by the Teutonic Knights in 1343, the Old Town is older, and the Young Town was founded in 1380 and then demolished in a dispute. Each had its own wall, council and tax system, and they contested trading rights with one another.
The district is far quieter than the Main Town: the Old Town Hall, the Great Mill — Europe's largest medieval mill with eighteen millstones — St Catherine's church and St Bridget's, tied to the Solidarity movement. And the Radunia Canal that drove the mills. The whole walk takes about an hour.
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