This is the place of the most “mosts”: the most important public space in Kraków, the most expansive Market Square of medieval Europe, it gathers everything most characteristic of the city and has its most distinctive hallmarks, and last but not least: the most beautiful, the most important, the most charming, the most…
The huge main square was staked out for the city when Kraków received its city charter based on Magdeburg Law in 1257. It was set up at the intersection of ancient trading routes, on the plan of a square, with each side slightly exceeding 200 m (650 ft). The name Rynek (Market Square), deriving from the German word Ring, was first used around 1300, and the current one – Rynek Główny (Main Market Square)– has only been in use since the end of the 19th century.
The urban design followed the distinctive cross grid layout, characteristic of mediaeval cities, with the Market Square becoming its central point. There are three streets leaving each side of the market, with only Grodzka, running along an ancient trading route and in the close vicinity of St Adalbert’s Church, receiving a different form: that of a broadway running at an angle. Some other concessions and derogations also had to be made, as there had been earlier structures standing in the area even before the charter; they obviously included St Mary’s and St Adalbert’s church. With its regular urban design retained since the Middle Ages and the central Main Market Square, Kraków’s city centre was inscribed on the original UNESCO list in 1978, which made it one of the world’s first twelve UNESCO-listed sites.
