Market Square (Lviv)

49°50′29″N 24°01′53″E / 49.841466°N 24.031265°E / 49.841466; 24.031265

Rynok Square (Ukrainian: Площа Ринок, romanized: Ploshcha Rynok, Polish: Rynek we Lwowie, German: Ring) is a central square of the city of Lviv, Ukraine. According to archaeological data, the square was planned in the second half of the 13th century, during the reign of Prince Leo I of Galicia.^{[1][need quotation to verify][2]} However, there is a long tradition of later dating the emergence of the square, associated with the activities of the Polish king Casimir III the Great.^[3]

The square is rectangular in shape, with measurements of 142 metres by 129 metres and with two streets radiating out of every corner. In the middle there was a row of houses, with its southern wall made by the Town Hall. However, when in 1825 the tower of the Town Hall burned, all adjacent houses were demolished and a new hall, with a 65-metre tower, was built in 1835 by architects J. Markl and F. Trescher.^[4]

Around the square, there are 44 tenement houses, which represent several architectural styles, from Renaissance to Modernism. In the four corners, there are fountains—wells from 1793, probably designed by Hartman Witwer. The sculptures represent four Greek mythological figures: Neptune, Diana, Amphitrite and Adonis. In front of the Town Hall, there was a pillory. In 1998 the Market Place, together with the historic city center of Lviv, was recognised as a UNESCO world heritage site.^[5]