All Saints Square and the Wielopolski Palace City Hall

Why is it significant?

Stand in the open center of All Saints Square, bordered by the monumental stone facade of the Wielopolski Palace at numbers 3 and 4.

Key Facts

Open the walk

Stand in the open center of All Saints Square, bordered by the monumental stone facade of the Wielopolski Palace at numbers 3 and 4. Originally constructed in the mid-sixteenth century for Crown Hetman Jan Tarnowski, this grand residence was later acquired and enlarged by the illustrious Wielopolski magnate family. Since 1865, the palace has served as Kraków's official City Hall, accommodating the Mayor of Kraków and the City Council. The square occupies the site of the medieval Church of All Saints, dismantled in 1838 to create a spacious civic forum.

In the center of the square stands the neo-Gothic monument to Mayor Mikołaj Zyblikiewicz, sculpted by Walery Gadomski in 1887. Zyblikiewicz was the dynamic late-nineteenth-century civic leader who spearheaded the transformation of Kraków into a modern European showpiece. Under his energetic administration, the stagnant city moats were converted into the encircling Planty park, the Main Market Cloth Hall was renovated with neo-Gothic arcades, and the Royal Castle at Wawel was reclaimed from Austrian barracks.

Across the plaza stands the modern Wyspiański Pavilion, erected in 2007 to mark the 750th anniversary of Kraków's municipal charter under Magdeburg law. Its translucent glass facade features three soaring stained-glass windows depicting Saint Stanislaus, Prince Henry the Pious, and King Casimir the Great, executed from original unrealized designs drawn by Wyspiański for Wawel Cathedral. By night, internal illumination projects these vibrant royal colors across the square, uniting twentieth-century modernism with twenty-first-century civic architecture.

All Saints Square has witnessed the pivotal decisions that governed Kraków's recovery from war, political totalitarianism, and urban decay. Within the historic council chambers of the Wielopolski Palace, civic leaders preserved the Old Town's architectural integrity, ensuring its inscription as one of the original UNESCO World Heritage sites in 1978. The square is a dignified forum where municipal governance meets cultural memory.

Stroll just a few dozen paces east down Stolarska Street. Before you rises the soaring Gothic gable and ancient cloister of the Holy Trinity Dominican Basilica, our walk's grand finale.