Market Square of Krakow, Poland

The Main Market Square (Rynek Główny) is the heart of Kraków’s Old Town and, at about 200 by 200 metres, one of the largest medieval town squares in Europe. It was laid out in 1257, when the city received its town charter after the Mongol raids, and it is part of the historic centre of Kraków, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1978.

In the centre stands the Cloth Hall (Sukiennice), a medieval trading hall rebuilt in Renaissance style after a fire in 1555; its arcades are still lined with stalls selling amber, lace and souvenirs. Beside it rises the 70-metre Town Hall Tower, the only part of the old town hall left after the rest was demolished in 1820. On the edges of the square stand St. Mary’s Basilica, with its two unequal towers and the bugle call (hejnał) played every hour, and the small Church of St. Adalbert, one of the oldest buildings in the city; the Adam Mickiewicz Monument of 1898 is a favourite meeting point.

Under the square, the Rynek Underground museum shows medieval cellars and trade routes uncovered during excavations (tickets 45 PLN in 2026). You can climb the Town Hall Tower (22 PLN), and the upper floor of the Cloth Hall houses the National Museum’s Gallery of 19th-Century Polish Art, with works by Matejko, Siemiradzki, Chełmoński and Malczewski (35 PLN, free on Tuesdays). The square is busy from morning till night with cafés, flower stalls, street performers and horse-drawn carriages; come early in the morning for photos without crowds.