Main Market Square, Wrocław

The Main Market Square ( _pl. Rynek, _de. (Großer) Ring) is a medieval market square in Wrocław, now the heart of a pedestrian zone.

The market square has the shape of a rectangle with the dimensions 205 x 175m. The buildings around the square are built in different styles: the middle part (German: "Tritt") of the ring is occupied by a block of buildings consisting of the town hall, the new city hall as well as numerous citizens houses. The market square is an urban ensemble with the two diagonally subsequent places - the Salt market and the church place at St. Elisabeth's Church. Eleven streets lead to the market: two on each corner, two narrow back alleys as well as the raptured back market.

The market was founded according to Magdeburg law already under Henry I the Bearded between 1214 and 1232. Over time, the patrician houses developed and in the middle of the 14th century they already formed a closed construction and land borders were defined.

In the 19th century the square was connected by tram lines - first by horse, after 1892 electric. Until the end of the 1970s, cars drove through the ring in east-west direction. Between 1996 and 2000 it was renovated and newly paved, while the east side, the last part accessible for cars, was closed.

There are now 60 numbered plots on the market square, with some buildings occupying several parcels. The divisions of the plots is often different than the original parceling since the estates were often merged and divided in the late Middle Ages. Each property has a traditional name, usually associated with the coat of arms visible on the facade or related to the history of the house itself, for instance "Under Griffins", "Blue Sun" or "Old Town Hall".

Buildings on and around the square

Inner block

West side

South side

East side

The east side was historically known as the "Green Pipe Side" ( _de. Grüne-Rohr-Seite), referring to verdigris on copper roof gutters and down-pipes. The name has been mistranslated into Polish as "Strona Zielonej Trzciny" ("Green Reed Side"); however, this name is not widely used today. Opposite the main facade of the Town Hall, the east side comprises the houses no. 29 through 41 and faces.

Notable buildings:
*Barasch Brothers' Department Store‎ - Department Store "Feniks" (no. 29-41)

North side

Literature

*Olgierd Czerner, "Rynek wrocławski", Wrocław: Ossolineum, 1976
*Rudolf Stein, "Der Große Ring zu Breslau", Breslau: Priebatsch's Buchhandlung, 1935
*Cezary Buśko, Archeologia lokacyjnego Wrocławia, in Rudolf Procházka: "Forum urbes mediiaevi. 1.Sborník příspěvků z konference FUMA konané 10. dubna 2002", Brno: Archaia Brno, 2004, pp. 35-45. ISBN 80-239-2746-2. [http://www.archaiabrno.org/media/doc/fuma_I_35_45_busko.pdf PDF, Polish with German summary]
* "Dehio - Handbuch der Kunstdenkmäler in Polen: Schlesien", Herder-Institut Marburg and Krajowy Osrodek Badan i Dokumentacji Zabytkow Warszawa, Deutscher Kunstverlag 2005, ISBN 342203109X