Fountain on Mały Rynek
Kraków Fountains
Fountain, Stare Miasto district. This is an illuminated fountain, built during the redevelopment of Mały Rynek planned for the 750th anniversary of Kraków's city charter. Before that the square served mostly as a car park and taxi rank. The historic paving, lamps and benches were restored, and the square became a venue for performances and celebrations that support the Main Square.
History
Mały Rynek (the Small Market Square), laid out east of the Main Market Square when Kraków received its town charter, was once a place for trading in meat and second-hand goods, and for a long time it was also a car park and taxi rank. In 2007, to mark the 750th anniversary of the city's charter, the square was modernised: the historic cobbles, lamps and benches returned, and car traffic was cut to a minimum. A fountain with a modern, cascading form was also built. Water flows down three panes of toughened laminated glass, forming a layer two millimetres thick, and the whole fountain is lit up and controlled by an automated system.
Did you know?
In the Szoberowska tenement house on Mały Rynek, Poland's first newspaper, "Merkuriusz Polski", was printed in 1661. Bronisław Malinowski spent his childhood in the same house.