See the Old Town

We start sightseeing of the Old Town in the Old Market Square in front of the Bydgoszcz Land Fight and Martyrdom Monument (1) placed here in 1969 (designed by Franciszek Masiak). The monument commemorates the casualties of the Nazi terror, especially the residents of Bydgoszcz who were executed in this place by firing squad on the first days of the Second World War. 

Did you know that....
At the beginning of the Second World War, the old Jesuit Church of St Ignatius of Loyola still stood in the Old Market Square. Legend has it that one of the victims of the Nazi terror, while dying, leaned against one of the church walls. The trace of the hand remained and it could not be removed, that’s why the German occupants decided to demolish the church.. 

Going along the river, we reach Mostowa Street. After a few moments, we will be able to see the city’s official symbol, i.e. three half-timbered granaries (6) from the turn of the 19th century, scenically located on the River Brda. In the past, these were among many grain storehouses in the city; nowadays they belong to the Leon Wyczółkowski District Museum. In front of the main entrance to the building is a model of old Bydgoszcz. Looking at it, we can see several now non-existent buildings, including the City Hall and Jesuit Church in the Old Market Square, the little Romanesque Church of St Giles, city gateways, and Bydgoszcz castle, which was destroyed during the Swedish Deluge. Now we go towards the Jerzy Sulima-Kamiński Bridge, where we stop for a while to look at the eagerly photographed panorama of Bydgoszcz.

The “little palace” (9) in the Dutch mannerist style on the right bank of the River Brda, built in 1885-1886 (designed by Waldemar Jenisch), was the old head office of, among others, Lloyd of Bydgoszcz, one of the biggest shipping companies in the Second Republic of Poland. On the other side of the river, one can see the Main Post Office (11), which is housed in a complex of historic buildings from the 18th century.

Going down the bridge stairs to the boulevard, it is worthwhile looking at the richness of neo-baroque forms on the corner tenement house at 1-3 Stary Port Street – the work of the famous builder of Bydgoszcz, Józef Święcicki. On the boulevard we turn right and go along the River Brda towards the monumental edifice of the Opera Nova (10).

Across the footbridge we enter Mill Island, a 6-hectare green oasis in the very centre of the city. We go past the oldest building on the island, the so-called White Granary (15) dating back to the late 18th century, which is now occupied by archaeological collections of the District Museum. Walking along Międzywodzie, an artificial canal crossing the island, on the left-hand side we go past the building of the European Money Centre (16), erected on the site of the buildings of the Bydgoszcz Mint (operating 1594-1688), and the old steam mill from 1861, the so-called Red Granary, now the Modern Art Gallery.

The central part of the Bydgoszcz island is occupied by a complex of mills dating back from 1848-1849, i.e. the huge Rother’s Mills. 

The scenic yellow building, located opposite them, is nowadays the House of Leon Wyczółkowski (17), where one can admire paintings, graphics, and the studio of the patron of the museum in Bydgoszcz. Now, we go to the other side of the street called Mennica (Mint), towards the tenement houses on the swift current of the River Młynówka. These buildings, once showing up almost straight from the water, are called the Bydgoszcz Venice (18). In the past, rich burghers used to build their workshops and plants here, e.g. dye-houses, distilleries, sawmill, and a bathhouse operated here. 

We go back to Długa Street. Walking amidst stylish tenement houses, mainly from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, one can feel the atmosphere of old Bydgoszcz, though the merchant’s major road had lost its position as the city’s trade centre. It is worthwhile visiting the exceptional Museum of Soap and History of Dirt (20) at number 13-17, and stopping by the 18th-century tenement house at number 22, the birthplace of painter Maksymilian Piotrowski (1813-1875), professor of the Academy of Fine Arts in Królewiec (Konigsberg). In the same building, as legend has it, King John III Sobieski stayed in 1676 during his journey by the River Vistula to Gdańsk. From the side of its backyard, the tenement house has extremely interesting two-storey cellars. 

We return again to Długa Street, turn left and go towards the intersection with Jana Kazimierza Street. In the area of the seat of the authorities of Bydgoszcz, located on the left-hand side, it is worthwhile looking down. Under our feet we see the Bydgoszcz Autographs, i.e. signatures of people, who have made a special contribution to the city. Such famous people as Zbigniew Boniek, Irena Santor and Jan Kulczyk have their plaques here. 

Looking at the next autographs, we reach the intersection with Jana Kazimierza Street, where we see an old orange tram from 1955, now a seasonal tourist information centre. It is hard to believe now that in the past trams used to run along Długa Street: “red” and “green” line trams. On the southern end of Jana Kazimierza Street, there is a boulder commemorating the Bydgoszcz Jews. The boulder is located right on the site of a monumental synagogue from 1882 (designed by Albert Muttray), dismantled by the Nazis in 1939.

Now we go along Jana Kazimierza Street towards the Old Market Square. The western side of the Market Square is occupied by the classicist edifice of the Dr Witold Bełza Provincial and Municipal Public Library, erected in the 18th century for the Prussian administration. Collections of the library that used to belong to the Bydgoszcz Bernardine monastery are kept in the building. This is the city’s oldest preserved book collection, whose origins date back to the late 15th century. In front of the main entrance to the library, is the bewitching sculpture-fountain ”Children playing with a goose” (22) – a work by Karl P. Kowalczewski, which has adorned the Old Market Square since 1909. Originally, the fountain was located in front of the Pharmacy under the “Golden Eagle”, because it was funded by its owners, the Kupffender family, on the centennial of their pharmacy. 

Down Magdzińskiego Street we go towards the historical covered market (24) opened in 1906 (to a design by the Berlin company of architects Boswau & Knauer). Above the entrance to the covered market, there is the city’s impressive coat of arms, while inside the steel structure is an interesting roof. Meat, fish, crayfish and seafood used to be sold here. The viewing axis from the Old Market Square via Magdzińskiego Street is closed by the neo-Gothic Church of St Andrew Bobola (25) with a slender clock tower, dominating Kościeleckich Square. The church, designed by Berlin architect Heinrich Seeling, was erected for the Bydgoszcz Protestants in 1903. Quite surprising is the fact that these days the Jesuit church still remains the highest (75 m) building in Bydgoszcz.

From in front of the covered market we go down Podwale Street (on the site of an old moat) towards Rybi Rynek (Fish Market Square). We turn into Kręta Street, running slightly uphill, which leads us again to the Old Market Square. At 3 Kręta Street, there is an interesting brick building, in the past a part of Herman Franke’s industrial complex, nowadays the famous music club “Eljazz”. The entrance steps are covered with notes – the score of the jazz standard Seven steps to heaven by Miles Davis (for the needs of the steps to the club changed into Three steps to heaven).

Entering the main Market Square of the city, it is worthwhile looking at the corner tenement house at 15 Stary Rynek (23). In one of its attic windows, Master Twardowski appears exactly at 1:13 p.m. and 9:13 p.m. At the corner of the Old Market Square and Batorego Street, is the artistic Węgliszek Cafe, with a window decorated with an image of the devil of the same name, which had shady dealings with Master Twardowski.