This is the first time I have been in a Polish city where the Ratusz is such a dominant feature. But then the history of Wrocław is that is has been part of other countries.
I first saw it from the distance when I went out to supper the first evening I was there.
On Monday of my visit to the city I decided to walk back for a better look with my guide book in hand. The Lonely Planet guide for Poland says that this building took almost two centuries to complete; building started in 1327 and ended in 1504. In our now short-term thinking about projects it is hard to imagine spending this much time on construction of a building.
The guidebook says that this south side was constructed during the early 16th century and is termed as the most ornate side.
Above is a close-up of the clock found in the central area of this side.
This is the side that faces to western direction.
The photo above shows some of the carvings on the building is greater detail.
And the rynek in this city-- wow! The Lonely Planet guidebook says that the one in Krakow is bigger, but if so it must be only by a very few square meters, for the one inWrocław seems huge. One can walk about on all four sides whereas the one in Krakow seems to me to be laid out in two large rectangles.
As one might expect the rynek is lined with restaurants and I enjoyed many of them. The food in this city is very good.
But it was buildings that knocked me out. I had not expected the great variety of colors nor the style of the buildings.
The guidebook says that buildings on the north and south side were badly damaged in WW II. The photo above shows buildings from the east side which may be highly representative of what the city looked like before the WW II.
The rynek is a great place for people watching. I enjoyed all the cups of iced coffee I had there while watching what was happening in the rynek.
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