The Marktplatz is the heart of Pirna's old town and one of the most coherent Renaissance and late-Gothic squares in Saxony. The surrounding burghers' houses were built largely in the 16th century, after the town prospered from the Elbe trade in timber and sandstone — the same golden sandstone used to build much of Dresden. The houses have held their proportions and their stepped gables unusually well; bomb damage that flattened so much of this region largely spared Pirna's centre.
The Rathaus (town hall) on the north side of the square is the finest building. Its Renaissance portal, dating from around 1565, is decorated with carved figures and inscriptions and is considered one of the best examples of the style in the region. The square still functions as a market place on weekdays, and on summer evenings it fills up with cafe tables. The church of St Mary looms at the upper end, its twin towers just visible above the roofline. Stand roughly in the centre of the square and you are standing in the spot where Bernardo Bellotto set up his easel in the 1750s to paint one of his most celebrated views of the town.