Turn right into Świdnicka Street and continue to Tadeusz Kościuszko Square, created after 1807 when the old fortifications at this location were removed. The residential buildings surrounding the square today were constructed during the rebuilding of Wroclaw between 1954 and 1956 and are an outstanding example of Socialist Realism, an architectural landmark that brings the city’s post-war history to life.
Continue straight ahead. On the right stands the imposing Renoma department store, formerly known as Wertheim. This masterpiece of interwar modernist architecture reflects the elegant and innovative design of its era. Ahead stretches a picturesque green belt following the former city moat and outer defensive walls into the heart of Wroclaw’s historic Old Town. On the left rises the magnificent Wroclaw Opera House, a neoclassical gem designed by the renowned architect Carl Langhans, who also designed Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate. The opera house was extensively rebuilt between 1837 and 1841 and continues to impress with its elegant appearance.
A few steps farther on, the historically significant Hotel Monopol appears on the left. Built in 1892 in the Art Nouveau style, it was once one of Wroclaw’s most luxurious hotels. Its best-known feature is the colonnaded balcony above the entrance, created in 1937 to provide Adolf Hitler with a platform for speeches. Famous guests included Pablo Picasso, Marlene Dietrich and Jan Kiepura, reflecting the hotel’s glamorous past.
Directly behind the Monopol stands the Church of Saints Stanislaus, Dorothea and Wenceslaus, one of the large three-aisled Gothic brick churches characteristic of Wroclaw. Founded by Emperor Charles IV to commemorate his meeting with the Polish king Casimir the Great, the church is dedicated to the martyrs Stanislaus, Dorothea and Wenceslaus. Initially entrusted to the Augustinians and later to the Franciscans, it has served as a parish church since 1707. Its interior contains elaborate altars, particularly the main altar created by J. Pohl in 1720, admired for its elegance and detail.
Continue along Świdnicka Street, which here has the lively character of a pedestrian area. In the underpass beneath Kazimierza Wielkiego Street, a small, shadowy, grinning dwarf sculpture can be seen on the right. It commemorates the legendary Wroclaw happening and performance group “Pomarańczowa Alternatywa” – the Orange Alternative – whose imaginative street actions in the 1980s, including the “Eve of the October Revolution” and the “Revolution of the Dwarfs”, humorously challenged the political system and exposed the absurdity of the period through parody.
Świdnicka Street now becomes an elegant urban passage and opens into a lively square. Buildings on the left date from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, while those on the right were constructed during post-war rebuilding. You now reach the south-eastern corner of Wroclaw’s historic Market Square, another fascinating stage of the city tour.
