History

Earlier town halls in Skierniewice were located on the town market. They were made of wood - the first one was erected in 1465 (it was destroyed during great fire of the town). The second one, built in the place of the former in approx. 1781, was founded by archbishop Antoni Ostrowski. The third town hall, which lasted for a short time and was burned down in the 19th century, was probably standing in the western frontage. The current brick town hall, built in 1847, is located probably in the place of the previous one. It was erected in the market frontage according to a design by Henryk Marconi. From 1915 on, the town hall building was used by tsarist authorities, and then, after partial conversion in 1918 - by German authorities. On November 11th, 1918, a group of patriots led by Władysław Strakacz disarmed German soldiers and took control over the town hall. During the World War II, the town hall was used as a prison. Currently, the building houses the Town Office. A reminder of the former town hall is the fountain built on its outline in the central part of the market square.

Description

The existing town hall is located in the densely built-up western frontage of the Market Square of archbishop Jan Odrowąż ze Sprowy (the founder of the town), shaped after 1457. It constitutes a dominant architectural feature of the frontage. The building stands on its axis. It is made of brick, plastered, with a basement underneath some of its sections. It is neo-Renaissance in style. It is side-gabled, built on a nearly square floor plan, and adjoins from the north-western side an originally single-storey, and currently two-storey, significantly converted outbuilding. The interior layout features two bays with a spectacular vestibule in the middle. The original layout of rooms has not been preserved due to numerous conversions. The main staircase is made of cast iron, with a half landing. In the basements, there is a barrel vault, and the rooms of upper storeys are covered with ceilings on wooden beams. The roof truss is made of wood rafters, and the gable roof is clad with sheet metal. The body of the town hall has three storeys. The front façade features modest, elegant architectural detail, with rustication and pilasters. It is symmetrical, with three axes and a small avant-corps in the middle. At the ground floor, there are three arcaded blind windows with rusticated archivolts. In the central archivolt, over which a cartouche with the coat of arms of the town is embedded, there is an entrance with a semi-circular transom light. In side archivolts, there are window openings, also with semi-circular transom lights. The storeys are separated by cornices running below the window sills of the first and second storey. On the axis of the avant-corps, there is a window opening with a semi-circular top section and a surround, and on the sides, double windows with semi-circular top sections. The crowning cornice is a distinct feature of the façade. Over the central section of the building, there is a three-axis, quadrangular belvedere whose pilastered façades feature three windows with semicircular arches. Above them, there is a strongly accentuated cornice, and over it - a balustrade of the terrace around a cuboidal, one-axis belvedere with a clock in the eastern façade. On the ground floor, on the side axes of the town hall building, there are commemorative plaques: one from 1928, dedicated to Jan Kiliński, and the other one with names of ten citizens of Skierniewice hanged in 1942 by Germans on the Market Square. The back façade has four axes at the ground floor level, and on the other two storeys - five axes. All windows are topped with semi-circular arches. At the ground floor, they were partially modified. The storeys are partitioned horizontally with string courses and a crowning cornice.

Limited access to the monument. The interior may be visited on week days in the working hours of the Town Office.

compiled by Jolanta Welc-Jędrzejewska, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Łódź, 31-07-2014.

Bibliography

• Józefacki J., Dzieje Skierniewic 1369-1975, Warszawa 1988.
• Karta ewidencyjna, Ratusz w Skierniewicach, oprac. Kozłowska E., Warszawa 1982, Archiwum Ośrodka Dokumentacji Zabytków w Warszawie.
• Katalog zabytków sztuki w Polsce, t. 2: Województwo łódzkie, Warszawa 1954.