Pultusk city, Poland

Pułtusk is a small but charming town with interesting places to photograph. The longest market square in Europe is located here. The square in the city center, paved with cobblestones, is almost 400 meters long. A characteristic point is the town hall building with a brick tower located in the middle. From the former Gothic town hall, only the Gothic-Renaissance tower from the 16th century has remained. It currently houses the Pułtusk Regional Museum. The neo-gothic building of the current town hall was added to it after World War II. Pułtusk was founded at the turn of the 9th and 10th centuries, on the site of a former Proto-Slavic stronghold. According to messages on the hill, now called the hill of St. Krzyża, once stood a pagan temple, then the center of the settlement. In the 13th century, a defensive stronghold was built here, and in 1257 Pułtusk received city rights. In the fourteenth century, the city was moved lower to where the Old Town is today, and bishop buildings were erected on the hill. In the 16th century, the castle was extended in the Renaissance style to the form we know today. Currently, the Polonia House is located in the castle. On May 1, 1703, a battle of the Great Northern War took place near Pułtusk, and just over a hundred years later Napoleon’s and Russian troops clashed near this town. The French emperor himself visited Pułtusk twice. The city was also a battlefield during World War I, but much more intense clashes took place there between the Germans and the Red Army during World War II. As a result, about 85 percent of the city was destroyed.