DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.25050#0205
administrative centre was transformed into a city salon. Although
they occasionally caused unnecessarily losses, the changes were to
some extent necessary, and dictated by the contemporary opinions
as to what a modern city needs. On the contrary, no such
justification can be found for the inept conservation and new
constructions done in our century. In the period preceding the
First World War and even in the interwar era, a number of old
townhouses fell victim to speculators who raised new structures
alien to the historic fabric of the town centre. In quite recent
times, the limestone cobbles of the Market Square surface were
replaced by smooth-textured stone paving which did nothing to
redress the inconveniences and to improve the esthetics of the
square. The town hall tower was not spared either, and the
contemporary restoration work that was done, combined with
far-reaching remodelling for commercial purposes, often damaged
the historic structure of the townhouses.
Despite these ravages, the Cracow Market Square remains
among the most beautiful historic squares in Europe. It is also one
of the largest, each side measuring about zoo metres. The main
axes of the square are at an angle of about 45 degrees to the four
points of the compass. The north-south line runs almost parallel to
a diagonal joining the corners of Slawkowska and Grodzka
Streets. The square slopes slightly down westwards, its lowest
point being next to St Anne Street.
The Cloth Hall was built to answer the demands of expanding
trade. Surviving fragments of foundations testify that stone stalls
were to be found in the centre of the Market Square as early as the
thirteenth century. Towards the end of the fourteenth century,
Meister Martin Lindintolde raised a spacious Gothic hall, with
stone stalls for selling cloth and expensive fabrics running along
its sides. Later, three small houses abutting the Cloth Hall from
the west were built, and in the nineteenth century they were
redone as uniform projections. In 15 56-1560, the Cloth Hall was
thoroughly remodelled in the Renaissance-Mannerist style. The
hall was given a massive vault. The shorter elevations were
198
they occasionally caused unnecessarily losses, the changes were to
some extent necessary, and dictated by the contemporary opinions
as to what a modern city needs. On the contrary, no such
justification can be found for the inept conservation and new
constructions done in our century. In the period preceding the
First World War and even in the interwar era, a number of old
townhouses fell victim to speculators who raised new structures
alien to the historic fabric of the town centre. In quite recent
times, the limestone cobbles of the Market Square surface were
replaced by smooth-textured stone paving which did nothing to
redress the inconveniences and to improve the esthetics of the
square. The town hall tower was not spared either, and the
contemporary restoration work that was done, combined with
far-reaching remodelling for commercial purposes, often damaged
the historic structure of the townhouses.
Despite these ravages, the Cracow Market Square remains
among the most beautiful historic squares in Europe. It is also one
of the largest, each side measuring about zoo metres. The main
axes of the square are at an angle of about 45 degrees to the four
points of the compass. The north-south line runs almost parallel to
a diagonal joining the corners of Slawkowska and Grodzka
Streets. The square slopes slightly down westwards, its lowest
point being next to St Anne Street.
The Cloth Hall was built to answer the demands of expanding
trade. Surviving fragments of foundations testify that stone stalls
were to be found in the centre of the Market Square as early as the
thirteenth century. Towards the end of the fourteenth century,
Meister Martin Lindintolde raised a spacious Gothic hall, with
stone stalls for selling cloth and expensive fabrics running along
its sides. Later, three small houses abutting the Cloth Hall from
the west were built, and in the nineteenth century they were
redone as uniform projections. In 15 56-1560, the Cloth Hall was
thoroughly remodelled in the Renaissance-Mannerist style. The
hall was given a massive vault. The shorter elevations were
198