The merchants' coloured houses
Poznań
A row of narrow arcaded houses in bright colours beside a Renaissance town hall on the old market square.
Why Poznań is merchant-house green
Poznań is one of the oldest cities in Poland. Its Old Market Square is centred on a town hall rebuilt in Renaissance style in the 16th century, with three tiers of arcades. Beside it stands a row of very narrow houses with a shared arcade at street level. They were built for small traders who sold herring, salt and candles, and are known as the merchants' houses. Each front is painted a different colour and decorated with patterns. The square was largely destroyed in 1945 and rebuilt afterwards. At noon each day two metal goats come out of the town hall clock and butt heads twelve times, a tradition tied to a local legend.
#5F9E7AHouse red#B5462FHouse yellow#E9C04AHouse blue#5F8FC2Town hall cream#EDE3C8Values are fair approximations of what the eye sees there, not measurements.
Colours tied to Poznań
Written by the Rang desk with AI assistance. Background: "Poznań" on Wikipedia. If you know Poznań and we have it wrong, tell us.
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🇿🇦 Cape Town's bright hillside quarterBo-KaapRows of flat-fronted houses in lime, pink, blue and yellow on cobbled streets below Signal Hill.
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The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Bo Kaap Za: Daniel Case, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Zaanse Schans Nl: Frila, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Wroclaw Pl: Hrs Poland, CC BY-SA 3.0, source