The Old Market Square — Stary Rynek — is one of the largest and most beautiful Renaissance market squares in Europe, and the definitive heart of Poznan. The centrepiece is the Town Hall, a graceful Italian Renaissance building completed in 1560, its arcade-fronted facade and slender tower giving the square a distinctly Mediterranean air that surprises visitors expecting standard Central European Gothic.
Around the square stand the colourful merchants' houses — rebuilt in the 1950s after wartime destruction, but using period designs that restore the original character. The square is lined with cafes and restaurants, and the terraces fill up on warm evenings with Poznan's large student population. Walk the square at different times of day: it changes completely between the quiet Sunday morning and the crowded Friday evening.