Kazimierz Dolny – Market Square

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The Market Square – the heart of the city – consists of two parts: the older upper section near the Parish Church, and the younger, lower and much larger section. After several 16th-century fires destroyed the wooden buildings, stone townhouses made of local opoka limestone began to dominate the square.

At the center stands the well, a symbol of Kazimierz Dolny. In the 19th century, it served as “Street Spring No. 1” and was repeatedly repaired. Its current appearance dates to 1913 when Jan Koszczyc-Witkiewicz redesigned it, along with the less famous well tucked in the corner near Lubelska Street.

Southern Frontage:

Three small gable-roofed buildings housing PTTK and the town’s oldest art gallery

The monumental Baroque Gdańsk Tenement

Western Frontage:

The Architects’ Creative Work House (by Karol Siciński, built on WWII ruins)

The Old Pharmacy (possibly the former town hall site)

The Kifner House (designed in 1919 by Koszczyc-Witkiewicz, long-time bookstore)

The 2000 statue of Werniks the dog – local legend claims this Janowiec resident commuted daily to beg treats from artists

Eastern Frontage:

The former Polish Hotel (1880), Kazimierz’s first hotel with its famous “Christian Inn” restaurant

The Gałuszewski House (possibly the old town hall)

The Werman House (post-war reconstruction by Siciński)

The 18th-century Radek House café with artist-decorated walls

The prized Przybyłów Tenements

Przybyłów Tenements:
These neighboring houses “Under St. Nicholas” and “Under St. Christopher” represent Kazimierz’s finest burgher architecture. Built (or radically rebuilt) by merchant brothers Mikołaj and Krzysztof Przybyło around 1615, they feature:

Triple-arcade ground floors

Asymmetrical windows with reliefs of their patron saints

Exuberant floral, geometric and figural decorations

Exceptionally tall, lace-like attics
The facades blend Italian and Dutch influences with local folk styles – note the “Worried Christ” resembling roadside shrines. Miraculously surviving both world wars, they remain remarkably intact.