Old Town Market Square in Stargard

The Old Town Market Square in Stargard has been the centre of local life since the mid-13th century and is the largest concentration of valuable monuments in the town. Here stand the St Mary's Collegiate Church and the eastern frontage with the town hall, the guardhouse and two neo-Baroque townhouses.

The town hall, the guardhouse and the collegiate church

The eastern side of the square is formed by the town hall, the Guardhouse and two neo-Baroque townhouses. Five streets lead from the square: Grodzka (in two directions), Mieszka I, Mariacka and Kramarska.

The appearance lost after 1945

After the Second World War the square, like a large part of the town, lost its original appearance. The most impressive townhouses, among them the Loewen Aphoteke pharmacy from 1487 and a townhouse modelled on the façade of the town hall, were replaced by large-panel buildings. In 1874 a monument to Germania, in honour of soldiers killed in the Franco-Prussian War, was set up in the centre of the square; it was pulled down before the outbreak of the Second World War.

The square as a trading centre

From the Middle Ages to the end of the Second World War the square served as a marketplace and, together with the nearby Salt, Meat and Timber Markets, formed the town's commercial centre. At the beginning of the 20th century it housed an insurance agency, a bank, a hotel, a colonial goods shop, a restaurant, a pharmacy and a fashion house.

Practical information

• Location: the centre of the Old Town in Stargard, next to the gates and towers of the Old Town.
• The square is an open city square. The interiors of the monuments are visited according to the rules of their managers.