Krakow

Wieliczka Upper Town Square

  Rynek Górny, Wieliczka     more than a year ago
If you have a stroll about Wieliczka, you'll find the charming town square just a block north of the Saltworks Castle and St. Clement's Church. Dating back to the end of the 13th century, most of the buildings you'll see surrounding the small square today date back to the 19th century. The most notable exception is the Przychocki Palace - the bright orange building with its grand double stairs dominating the south side of the square (Rynek Górny 2). Built on the foundations of the original town hall in the late 18th century by Kazimierz Przychocki, this neo-classical palace housed a junior high for years, and is today a vocational school. A plaque on the outside commemorates Edward Dembowski’s rallying of the miners and townspeople, who set out from here on February 24th 1846 en route to Kraków to fight against Austrian rule in the Kraków Uprising; the story has an inglorious end, unfortunately, as the Uprising was short-lived, and Dembowski was dead three days later.

Occupying the square are the bronze sculptures of four miners emerging from below ground, which have now been incorporated into a large 3D painting that dominates the northern part of the square. Claiming to be the largest 3D painting in PL, and second largest in the world, when viewed from the correct, conveniently marked spot, this work by Ryszard Paprocki creates the optical illusion of looking deep into the underground complex.

A memorial plaque commemorating Wieliczka's Jewish population, which describes their fate in detail, can be found on the outside of Rynek Górny 7, on the northwest corner of the square where it meets ulica Zamkowa.

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