Description
The town square or St. Jana Pawła II is a centrally located 0,3-hectare, paved area in the very historic center of Gubin. On the south side, the square is closed by a Renaissance town hall with a community center and restaurant on the ground floor, and a Gothic parish church; to the north and west, this area is surrounded by a green belt with rich trees. In the very center of the square, you can see the site of the former monumental »Well of the Two Emperors«, which was erected in honor of the emperors William I and Frederick. A free parking zone is also available here - interestingly, it was more or less in this place until 1904 there was also a horse-drawn carriage stop, which was later replaced by a tram that ran there until 1936.
Currently, this square is a meeting place for residents and many of the celebrations organized in Gubin.
Historical background
Since the Middle Ages, the town square in Gubin has been an inseparable part of its tissue, being at the same time the focal point of city's life. Until the end of World War II, the square was surrounded on each side by buildings typical of this urban form: the town hall, the parish church, a marketplace and tenement houses with services on the ground floor. In 1887, the centrally placed well was rebuilt into a monument in honor of the Emperors William I and Frederick, known as the "Well of the Two Emperors".
In 1904, a city tram was launched, the single-track route of which ran from the industrial, western part of Gubin, through the Wielki Bridge and the market square to the east of the city. On the square there was a short, two-track section commonly called "passing loop", where vehicles coming from the opposite direction could pass. There were three such passes along the route.
Unfortunately, the market in this form did not survive the Second World War. Apart from the parish body and the town hall, almost every building in the old town was destroyed. In the following years, the rest of the surviving buildings were demolished, so that the still usable bricks, along with those already collected from the ruins, were given for the reconstruction of Warsaw.
Over the next decades, the area was slowly reorganized into its present form.
Plac św. Jana Pawła II, 66-620 Gubin, Poland
Św. Jana Pawła II square and the old market
Market place: from the Middle Ages to 1945
From 1945 to 2005 without a specific name
Św. Jana Pawła II square: from 2005
0,3 ha
Open 24/7
