History

The plot at Rynek Trybunalski (Tribunal Square) was probably planned in the 16th century when Piotrków obtained the town rights. It is not possible to establish precisely when the plot was built up, because no architectural or archaeological research has ever been carried out. The present-day building, in its above-ground part, was built or remodelled after the fire that swept through the town in 1731. This is evidenced by the inscription placed on the ceiling beam: LUDATUR JESUS CHRISTUS IN SE(CU)LA SE(CU)LORUM NOVO ERECTU(S) PER S(PE)C(TA)/B(I)LES DOMINES ANDREAM WIERZBICZ PROCONSULATEM ET ANNAM DE DOMO BELCHOWICZOWNA CONJUGES A(NN)O D(OMI)NI 1732 DIE 18 (SEPTEM)BRIS. In 1786, during a fire that swept through the town, the northern frontage of the market square was destroyed, probably together with the property of the Wierzbicz family. A plan from 1824 shows that the plot was already fully built up. Until the beginning of the 20th century, there was a one-storey townhouse there, incorporated in the frontage facing the Market Square. The third storey was added in the 1950s.

Description

The townhouse is situated in the northern frontage of the Tribunal Square, at its western corner. It occupies the south-west corner of the market square surrounded by the following streets: Rynek (from the south), Rwańska (from the west) Wojska Polskiego (from the north), pl. Czarneckiego (from the east). From the east, it adjoins another two-storey townhouse. The main entrance to the townhouse is from Rwańska Street.

The building has Neoclassical features.

It follows a floor plan resembling a rectangle and has four bays of unequal depth, positioned transversely to the longer axis of the building, which is aligned north-south.

The townhouse has cellars, three above-ground storeys and a habitable attic. It is covered with a three-hipped roof with dormers.

The building is made from ceramic bricks laid with lime and lime-cement mortar. Stone was also used in some of the cellars. Plastered. The cellars have barrel vaults with lunettes above the passageway openings, made from ceramic bricks laid with lime mortar, covered with cement-lime mortar with a smooth float finish. Over the cellars in the northern part of the building and above the rooms on the first floor and some of the rooms on the ground floor, there is a beam-and-block ceiling filled with prefabricated ceramic elements. In one of the rooms on the ground floor, the ceiling is made from wooden beams. The wooden roof truss was assembled using purlins and straining beams. The rafters are supported by a ridge purlin and two intermediate purlins. The purlins rest on braced queen posts. The roof is covered with Dutch ceramic tiles on wooden battens. In the cellars and in the staircases, there are concrete and terrazzo floors. In the rooms, there are concrete underlayers covered with wooden floors and PVC, terracotta and lastrico floor coverings. The stairs leading to the cellars in the part of the building next to the market are made of concrete and wind around a central pillar. In the central part of the building, there are concrete, one-flight, straight stairs leading to the cellars. On the above-ground storeys, there are single-flight stairs with winders and a steel, welded openwork balustrade with a handrail made from a flat bar and a PVC pull handle. Stairs to the cellars can also be found in the northern part of the building. On the above-ground storeys, there are three staircases. In the principal block, there are wooden, two-flight stairs. The stairs connecting the ground floor with the first floor have a metal balustrade with a wooden handrail. Above, the balustrade is made from wooden balusters. In the side wing, there are three-flight, quarter-turn stairs with a reinforced concrete structure and terrazzo steps, terracotta-covered landings and a simple metal railing. In the western staircase of the side wing, there are wooden, two-flight stairs with stringers. The wooden balustrade is made from turned balusters. The contemporary, coupled windows mirror the form of the original windows. The windows have two wings, each divided into four sections. One the ground floor, there are permanently fixed shop windows.

The single and two-wing doors are frame-panelled, with a fanlight.

The front-eastern elevation mirrors the style of the northern one. They are both set on a plinth whose height is adjusted to the slope of the ground. The openings on the ground floor are placed against the background of rusticated strips. The ground floor is topped with a cordon cornice. Above, against the background of a smooth wall on the second storey, there are rectangular window openings and a port-fenêtre in stuccoed, profiled frames. Over each opening, there is a section of profiled cornice. Above, the plain wall is pierced by rectangular openings in stucco frames. The walls are topped with a double cornice. Above it, against the background of a smooth frieze, there are round windows lighting the attic. The walls are crowned with an under-eaves cornice.

The southern (front) elevation is three-storey and four-axial. On the ground floor, in the westernmost axis, there is a rectangular entrance opening. The western elevation has seven axes. On the third and seventh axis from the south, there are rectangular entrance openings. The other axes are accented by the rectangular window openings. The southern and western elevations are articulated in a similar way. The building is set on a low offset plinth. On the ground floor, the axes are positioned against the background of the wall with rusticated strips. The ground floor is topped with a double cornice. There is a smooth frieze between the cornice sections. In the second storey, the window openings are surrounded by profiled frames. There is a cornice section above each window opening. In the third storey, the openings are surrounded by profiled frames. Under the windows, there are window sills formed by sections of cornices. The storeys are topped with a profiled under-eaves cornice. The northern elevation, partly visible from behind the townhouse at No. 3 Rwańska Street, is blind. The wall has a triangular top, separated by a profiled cornice, which is the continuation of the under-eaves cornice on the western elevation. The eastern elevation is three-storey, four-axial and smoothly plastered. In the northernmost axis, there is a rectangular door opening. The other axes are accented by the rectangular window openings. Three-wing windows. The ground floor is topped with a profiled cornice. The wall is crowned with an under-eaves cornice.

Private property. The building can be viewed from outside.

Compiled by Agnieszka Lorenc-Karczewska, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Łódź 17 June 2020

Bibliography

• Pietrzak J., Record sheet of monuments of architecture and construction, 1997, Voivodeship Monuments Protection Office in Łódź, National Institute of Cultural Heritage, Warsaw
• Głowacki K., Urbanistyka Piotrkowa Trybunalskiego, Piotrków Trybunalski – Kielce 1984.
• Głowacki K., Zabudowa Rynku w Piotrkowie Trybunalskim w świetle źródeł archiwalnych, [in:] Kwartalnik Architektury i Urbanistyki, vol. XXIII, part 4, 1978.