History

The tenement house was erected in the eastern frontage of the chartered market square. The current architectural form dates back to the first half of the 19th century as a result of the merger of two older one-storey town houses.

In 1788, the estate where the tenement house is located was divided into two narrow plots of land. One of them belonged to Szymański, who had a house, which was partly masonry.

The second site was occupied by a wooden house of Miedziński. The buildings were destroyed in the great fire of Kielce in 1800. Almost a quarter of a century later, the estate owned by Jan Gwoździowski was occupied by two one-storey masonry tenement houses, with entrance hallways, facing the market square. Two areas of land adjacent to the tenement house were occupied by separate outlying buildings. Before the mid-19th century, the tenement house underwent upward extension which involved the addition of a floor and new roof, and harmonisation of the façade. New entrances were made between the interiors on the ground floor and in the back buildings in order to transform the buildings into one complex. In 1847, a motel operated on the estate owned by Jan Malinowski. Guest rooms were in the outbuildings. Behind the courtyard was a large stable built on a rectangular floor plan, with a roof resting on eight pillars, situated on the frontage of Wesoła Street. All roofs were clad with wood shingles. The façade of the tenement house was formerly articulated by blind arcades (perhaps bricked-up arcades), with entrances to shops. The arcaded entrance gate was flanked by stone piers. Two wells were located on the estate. The Malinowski’s inn which consisted of masonry buildings including a one-storey front house with two single-storey outbuildings and stables was still operating in 1866. On the site previously occupied by the drive-in stable, before 1902 Dawid Zylberszpic built a three-storeyed tenement house on the frontage of Wesoła Street. In the interwar period, the estate adjacent to the market square marked with address number 11 Piłsudskiego Square belonged to the Cukerman brothers and Kaufaman and his wife.

Description

The building is located in the eastern frontage of the Market Square, which is characterised by closely clustered buildings arranged in the shape of a light arch on the section between the inlet streets, i.e., Bodzentyńska Street and Duża Street. The brick and stone tenement house is side-gabled just like the neighbouring buildings. A higher wing of the southern outbuilding in the back of the tenement house adjoins the multi-storey cylindrical front part covered with a gable roof.

The façades are plastered. The wide façade of the tenement house with nine axes features modern display windows installed in rectangular niches (bricked-up arcades). An arcaded gateway is located on the third axis to the south. The first floor has retained its eclectic architectural décor, visible in the frames of rhythmically spaced windows and massive cornice under the eaves braced by cubical corbels. The centre of the façade is accentuated by a wide balcony with a straight platform supported by corbels. The two-bay interior layout clearly demonstrates separation into two tenement houses. The basements under the whole tenement house have retained barrel vaults. The northern hallway houses commercial premises. On the ground floor, there are only the outermost south rooms (Kozubek shop) topped with a segmental-arched vault.

Selected rooms used for service and commercial purposes can be visited during the opening hours.

compiled by Anna Adamczyk, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Kielce, 14-12-2014.

Bibliography

• National Archives in Kielce, files of the Insurance Directorate, ref. no. 133, pp. 225-252; ibid., files of the Municipal Credit Society, ref. no. 90, vol. 13. Property plan dated 1902.
• Adamczyk J. L., Rynek w Kielcach. Przekształcenia przestrzenne i zabudowa mieszczańska Kielc lokacyjnych w XVII-XIX wieku, Kielce 1993, pp. 28, 73, fig. 62, 80.
• Urbański K., Miklaszewska H., Sentymentalne Kielce. Fotografie ze zbiorów Muzeum Narodowego w Kielcach, Kielce 2004, p. 18.