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In the east section, the focus is a statue of national poet Adam Mickiewicz , a facsimile of an earlier work destroyed by the Nazis, and a favourite meeting point. To its south, the copper-domed Kosciol sw. Wojciecha (St Adalbert's Church), is the oldest building in the square and the first church to be founded in Krakow. The saint was a Slav bishop, reputed to have preached here around 995 AD before heading north to convert the Prussians, at whose hands he was martyred. In the basement (reconstructed in the eighteenth century), you can see the foundations of the original tenth-century Romanesque building. Traces of an even earlier wooden building, possibly a pre-Christian temple, and an assortment of archeological finds are also on display. Many of the mansions ranged around the square are associated with artists, writers and wealthy local families, though these days most of them are in use as shops, offices or museums. On the eastern side are some of the oldest buildings in the city. The Kamienica Szara (Grey House; no. 6) on the corner of ul. Sienna, for example, despite its later appearance, has many of its Gothic rooms intact; its ex-residents include Poland's first elected king, Henri de Valois, and Tadeusz Kosciuszko, who used the house as his headquarters during the 1794 Uprising. The neighbouring Kamienica Montelupich (Montelupi House; no. 7), with a monumental Renaissance portal, was the site of the country's first-ever post office, established by its Italian owners in King Sigismund August's reign. The Gothic Kamienica Bonerowska (Boner House; no. 9) was for some time the home of the Krakow writer and painter Stanislaw Wyspianski, while the house at no. 15, in the southeast corner, is home to the city's oldest and most famous restaurant, the Wierzynek , founded in 1364 and claiming an unbroken culinary tradition. It also holds its original charter from King Kazimierz the Great. Political heavyweights who've dined here in recent years include presidents de Gaulle, Nixon, Mitterrand and Bush (the elder). Continuing round the south section of the square, the Palac Potockich (Potocki Palace; no. 20), with a small courtyard with loggias at the back, is a good example of a classical Krakow mansion, while the Palac Pod Baranami (no. 27), on the western side, is another aristocratic home, constructed from four adjacent burghers' houses in the sixteenth century. The nucleus of nineteenth-century social life, it's nowadays used as a cultural centre. Further along the western edge of the square, an orderly collection of shopfronts and restaurants added on to the old houses, ends at the Palac pod Krzysztofory (Krzysztofory Palace; no. 35) on the corner of ul. Szczepanska, another well-preserved mansion created by fusing burghers' houses into a single building with a fine courtyard at the back. Today it's part of the Muzeum Historyczne Krakowa (Krakow History Museum; Tues, Wed & Fri 9am-3.30pm, Thurs 11am-6pm; 4zl). The first floor houses a large and varied collection relating to the historical development of the city. Interspersed among the historical exhibits is an interesting spread of paintings by artists with connections with the city, including some fine works by Witkiewicz and Malczewski. On the top floor are the museum's prize exhibits, a collection of szopki , amazingly colourful and detailed model buildings produced for the annual Christmas contest. The main display is staged during the winter, but at any time of the year you'll find a couple of examples, generally winners of past competitions, on display. Completing the exhibits is a large, jumbled collection of clocks and other timepieces. The tall tower (daily 9am-6pm; 4zl), facing the Pod Baranami, is all that remains of the original, fourteenth-century town hall , pulled down in the 1820s by the authorities as part of a misguided improvement plan. It's worth the climb up for an excellent overview of the city. The top floor of the tower features occasionally illuminating local exhibitions.
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