16 December 2016 – 31 August 2017

Exhibition curator: mgr Kateriny Zisopulu-Bleja

Place: Górka Palace, ul. Wodna 27, 61-781 Poznań

The unusual discoveries, hidden for centuries under the pavement of the Old Market Square in Poznań are now displayed in the medieval basement of the Górka Palace. The exhibition titled “234 square meters of Poznań” is open to visitors from 16 December 2016 to 31 August 2017.

The future will see the revitalization of the Old Market Square. However, before comes the new, it is worth to look into the old. Revitalization plans have created favourable conditions for archaeological investigations preceding the investment. In 2015 the research in the area of the Old Town was carried out under the direction of Kateriny Zisopulu-Bleja from the Archaeological Museum in Poznań

The town’s main square is a special place. For centuries, it was a vital inter-regional and local trade hub. An important role was played also by the town’s authorities, whose seat was once located in the vicinity of one of the excavated trenches. Half a year of the work of archaeologists has allowed for uncovering the Market Square as seen through the prism of collected material remains. The finds have enriched our knowledge about spatial layout and the past infrastructure.

Among the artefacts discovered on the Old Market Square the visitors can see the revelations in the form of denarii of Władysław I Łokietek or the relics of party games, dices, pawns and tokens. Fascinating are also cult-associated objects, such as a pilgrim badge dating to the period between the second half of the thirteenth and the early fourteenth centuries. The artefacts of outstanding rank include a tournament diadem, unique on the European scale, being a manifestation of elite chivalry culture from the late thirteenth and the early fourteenth century.

Six months of the field work in the Old Market Square area was only a stage in the full recognition of the research effects. With each month, meticulously accumulated data provide further findings, and many months of conservation works carried out in the Archaeological Museum in Poznań restore the splendour to the objects buried for ages in the ground.

Many weeks of cabinet work are now ahead of archaeologists. Over a thousand selected artefacts guarantee a lot of hours of analyses. However, the objects should not be held in magazines all the time. Therefore, we cordially invite all the interested to the exhibition “234 square meters of Poznań”.