Városház tér is the heart of the old town and arguably the most photogenic square in Hungary outside Budapest. It is flanked on three sides by handsome baroque and rococo buildings — the City Hall with its bright yellow façade, the Episcopal Palace, and a row of painted townhouses — and slopes down at one end to the open ruin garden.
The square is paved, pedestrianised, and dotted with café terraces in summer. A column with an Orb of the World, raised in 1738 to thank the Virgin Mary for sparing the city from plague, stands in the middle. It is the obvious place to sit with a coffee and watch the city pass.