Town Hall, Toruń, Poland - SpottingHistory.com

Located in the centre of the Old City Market Square, the monumental Old City Town Hall is one of the biggest and most magnificent town halls in Europe. It is a monument to Toruń's glory as the former trade empire of Hansa. The construction began in 1274 and it was extended and rebuilt between 1391 and 1399 and extended again at the end of the 16th century.

Today Town Hall hosts the District Museum, which is one of the oldest and the greatest in Poland. Its origins date back to the year 1861 when the German Städtisches Museum in Thorn (Municipal Museum in Toruń) was established; on the other hand in 1876 Polish Science Society of Toruń founded another museum. It was only 1930 when these two were combined into one Municipal Museum. The museum exhibits were among others archaeological artefacts and the elements of old Toruń, Gothic art gallery, coins and mints etc.

References:

Visit Toruń

Palaces, manors and town halls in Poland

User Reviews

Grzegorz Rozwadowski (6 months ago)
One of the most beautiful Gothic city hall in Europe

Emma Ghana (9 months ago)
Nice views from the top of the tower. Be careful with the ticket officer, they knew we were foreigners and overcharged us thinking we would not notice.

Robert Epure (2 years ago)
Copernic's native town, nice old city center and streets, cruise on Vistula possible.

Paweł (2 years ago)
The Town Hall in Toruń is one of the largest brick buildings of that kind in Europe and definetely the most important historical monument within the Old Town of Toruń. For centuries it served as the administrative, commercial hub of the city and numerous trade fairs, homage ceremonies, knight tournaments or even public executions took part in the vicinity of this imposing edifice.

Fariz Aliyev (2 years ago)
the best place of Torun,İ recommend there

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Tyniec Abbey

Tyniec Benedictine abbey was founded by King Casimir the Restorer probably around 1044. Casimir decided to rebuild the newly established Kingdom of Poland, after a Pagan rebellion and a disastrous Czech raid of Duke Bretislaus I (1039). The Benedictines, invited to Tyniec by the King, were tasked with restoring order as well as cementing the position of the State and the Church. First Tyniec Abbot was Aaron, who became the Bishop of Kraków. Since there is no conclusive evidence to support the foundation date as 1040, some historians claim that the abbey was founded by Casimir the Restorer’ son, King Boleslaw II the Generous.

In the second half of the 11th century, a complex of Romanesque buildings was completed, consisting of a basilica and the abbey. In the 14th century, it was destroyed in Tatar and Czech raids, and in the 15th century it was rebuilt in Gothic style. Further remodelings took place in the 17th and 18th centuries, first in Baroque, then in Rococo style. The abbey was partly destroyed in the Swedish invasion of Poland, and soon afterwards was rebuilt, with a new library. Further destruction took place during the Bar Confederation, when Polish rebels turned the abbey into their fortress.

In 1816, Austrian authorities liquidated the abbey, and in 1821-1826, it was the seat of the Bishop of Tyniec, Grzegorz Tomasz Ziegler. The monks, however, did not return to the abbey until 1939, and in 1947, remodelling of the neglected complex was initiated. In 1968, the Church of St. Peter and Paul was once again named the seat of the abbot. The church itself consists of a Gothic presbytery and a Baroque main nave. Several altars were created by an 18th-century Italian sculptor Francesco Placidi. The church also has a late Baroque pulpit by Franciszek Jozef Mangoldt.

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