is one of the oldest tenements in the town square. A famous pharmacy was opened here in the 17th century. The building’s symbol is the kneeling deer, which adorns the facade. Ever since that time, the pharmacy has been called “Under the Golden Deer”. This building also has preserved fragments of its medieval undergrounds, which were used by local merchants and craftsmen to store their goods. A great factor in the success of Kłodzko’s merchants was the low temperature inside the underground chambers – some of which were as deep as 30 metres down – beneficial to keeping the stored products fresh for a very long time. Tenement no. 5 is a three-storey building with annexes and garrets. A subdued baroque elevation was installed in the second half of the 17th century. There are five Corinthian pilasters on small cylindrical supports above the presumably older ground floor. The extreme and middle pilasters are made into mirrors while the other two are fluted. The entablature and cornice are slightly crimped on every pilaster. The first floor windows are spectacular – with external arched eavestroughs and internally trapezoidal with reliefs in fields of plaster. The eavestroughs of the second-floor windows are more modest – they are feigned and only slightly corrugated. This is one of the most beautiful houses from the era.

Numerous of the tenements with their new and spectacular facades were also decorated with interesting emblems of animals. They included the building at ul. Grottgera, which was decorated with a wolf statue. There are reliefs of animals on the tenement at pl. Chrobrego no. 9 – a walking bear – and the one at ul. Matejki, the entrance to which is decorated with a crayfish.

Tenement no. 12 in the southern of the town square frontage is very interesting from an architectural perspective, but its uniqueness is not determined by the historical facades or the richly decorated portals. This is one of the few preserved tenements built on a gothic plan. It is 7.30 metres wide and its total length – together with the back yard and the annexes added later – comes to 34.25 metres. It was reconstructed in the 19th and 20th centuries and now has four stories. The neoclassical building and the decorations of its elevation come from the modernisation in the 19th-century.

In 1644, local pharmacist Erasmus Lyranus bought the grand tenement and opened a pharmacy on the ground floor. He named it “Under the Negro” to distinguish it from the rival “Under the Golden Deer” pharmacy a few tenements away. Its main feature is the baroque sculpture of the Negro decorating the tenement entrance and the preserved Art Nouveau pharmacy furnishings dating back to the 18th century. The two rival pharmacies, “Under the Negro” and “Under the Golden Deer”, have an interesting story. In late 19th century, a certain hermit by the name of Johannes Treutler lived near Kłodzko on Mary’s Mountain. He was known for making excellent medication, which could treat numerous ailments. It was called the “Jerusalem Balsam”. The hermit revealed the drug’s formula to only a select few people, including the owners of both of the local pharmacies, which supplied Treutler with the herbs and roots he needed to make the medicine. After his death in 1892, a dispute broke out over who was entitled to make and sell the “Jerusalem Balsam” according to the formula of the late hermit. This dispute continued for decades and was ultimately resolved in the year 1932 when the rights to the production in question were granted to the owner of the pharmacy “Under the Negro”, Johann Schittny. His family would continue to manufacture the drug in Kłodzko until the year 1945.

the oldest and most characteristic building at ul. Grottgera, which was presumably built in late 17th century. The house was called “Under the Wolf” and was subject to numerous modernisations in early 20th century. In 1927, in order to emphasise the building’s name, a wolf statue was installed in the niche above the portal at the tenement entrance. The statue was created by Kłodzko sculptor Franz Wagner.

The wolf is associated with a certain legend. A certain psychic of the Kłodzko region predicted that the city would suffer a flood so horrible that the wolf on the tenement would be able to drink the water. Unfortunately, his prediction came true during the great flood on the night of 7 July 1997. The psychic in question was Filip Fediuk, who had allegedly lent his assistance on numerous occasions to the police when it came to finding missing persons.

These are two historical tenements from two different eras: renaissance and late baroque. In late 19th century, they were connected by a staircase and ever since then were known as Hansel and Gretel. Building no. 8 – the renaissance Gretel – dates back to late 16th century. Numerous elements composing the façade decorations of the building are preserved to this day, including the two-storey peak of the west elevation and the late renaissance stone portal adorned with a rosette theme. The tenement was initially known as “Under the Goat” because of the emblem once crowing it. Around the year 1900, the new owner – a carpenter – replaced it with an image of carpentry tools. The somewhat younger building – Hansel – is a late baroque house dating back to the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries. Both tenements were subject to modernisation in the years 1971-1973 after a fire. The modernisation work included the interior and the vaults and roof truss were replaced as well. Thanks to the changes, Hansel and Gretel are still able to grace Piasek Island, one of the most charming parts of Kłodzko.