Bydgoszcz Old Market square is an oblong place (about ), situated in the old town district of the city of Bydgoszcz. The City Hall flanks one of its side, and nearby is located St. Martin and St. Nicholas Cathedral. Location The Old Market Square marks the center of Bydgoszcz, Polish city established in 1346 by king Casimir III the Great. The place faces watercourses on both of its flanks: Brda (river) river, 100 m from its northern frontage; a leat channel (), originally dug to power mills (Młyn in polish), running 150 m from its western frontage. Quaint and historic streets stem from this square: Northbound towards Grodzka street and Brda river: Mostowa street and Father Tadeusz Malczewski street; Eastbound towards Podwale Street: Kręta street and Teofil Magdziński street; Southbound towards Długa street: John II Kazimierz street and Stephen Báthory street; Westward towards' Jezuicka Street: Niedźwiedzia street and Farna Street. History Bydgoszcz market place has been charted in 1346, then paved in 1604. Until the end of the 17th century, court judgments were carried out there in public. It was the administrative and commercial heart of the city until the beginning of the 20th century, where Bydgoszcz economic, cultural and social life teemed. The market and the rim of properties located around constituted the core of the nascent city. Further expansion followed with plots built along Jezuicka or Długa streets. Elements from excavations Archaeological diggings carried out in the area of the place unearthed early Middle Ages artefacts, indicating that the area was inhabited before Bydgoszcz establishment. Oldest items, dating back to pre-settlement, have been found in the north-east corner of the Old Market Square: ceramics from the 12th century and beginning of the 13th century. Objects from the Lusatian culture (pottery fragments) have even been recorded below the early medieval layer, in several locations around the place. Another excavation, performed in 1969, exhumed relics of St. Ignatius of Loyola Jesuit Church, located on the western flank and demolished in 1940: fragments of wooden buildings, a wooden well originally located in the courtyard edifice, along with large amounts of clay and glass vessel fragments. Diggings at the southern frontage of the square unveiled fragments of wooden pipes running along north–south and northeast–southwest directions. During an excavation running through the middle of the place, elements of the foundations of the former Old Town Hall have been found. Most interesting discoveries were