The Kłodzko Town Square is an integral part of the historical old town developments, which hide certain charming locations worth visiting. The most presentable and grandest building is the City Hall, which no longer fulfils its commercial functions of the past. It continues to astonish with the diversity of its architectural styles with its preserved historical elements. The building is graced by a clock, which is held by a sculpture of the lion from the city’s coat of arms, a testament to its relations with Bohemia. Like those in numerous other cities, the Kłodzko City Hall stood out among other public buildings.

We do not know when the first hall was built exactly but sources point to the year of 1324 when the voytship was bought out. We do not know what it looked like because – according to the city’s chronicles – it was burned down in 1366. In later years, the building would suffer two more fires, the last on 20 September 1886. Construction work on the new hall started one year later. The renaissance revival building was designed by Ewald Berger, a prominent architect from Nowa Ruda. The City Hall was expanded to the north and now covers almost the entire central section of the square. The only thing preserved from the former hall is the square tower, which dates back to the turn of renaissance and baroque. The hall’s elevations are not uniform in style and combine various architectural elements. The hall served as the central point of the city for centuries. It was the home of the city’s authorities. The newly founded museum occupied two of its rooms for a certain time from 1906. Today, the city hall is also home to a library and reading room.

The fountain - stands in front of the main entrance to the city hall. The first well in this location was installed by the people of Kłodzko back in mid-16th century. The current well dates back to the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries. It has a large conch supported on four dolphins and holds a blazon with the crowned Bohemian lion standing on top. The lion also appears in the coat of arms of Kłodzko. It comes from the royal Přemyslid dynasty of Bohemia as Kłodzko was a part of the Bohemian state from the 12th century until its dissolution in the 17th century and is exceptionally beautiful in evening light.

The city pillory used to stand somewhat near the well to its south. It was installed in the years 1551-1552 and became the symbol of law and order in Kłodzko. According to chronicles, it was used to enforce numerous lashing sentences. Many of the convicts, especially thieves, were subsequently banished from the city forever. The pillory was ultimately taken down in early 19th century, but reappeared in the town square in 2011 in the same location where it stood in the middle ages. The Kłodzko pillory is crowned with the statue of a thief carrying a bag full of loot on his back.

The votive statue of the Virgin Mary stands to the west of the hall. It commemorates two of the city’s tragedies. In 1676, a horrible fire broke out in the city and destroyed numerous buildings, including the Kłodzko Tavern. Then, in the spring of 1680, the plague arrived and took the lives of 1479 locals in less than ten months. To prevent further misfortune, the local Jesuits, city authorities, and Jerzy Ignacy Pachy – the head of the Różanka parish – decided to found a column with the statue of the Virgin Mary in the Town Square. This theme was a common one throughout almost all of Europe in the baroque era. The first such column was commissioned by Pope Paul V and appeared back in 1614 in Rome. Emperor Ferdinand III of Habsburg also founded two columns of the Virgin Mary when he released the decree on surrendering the empire’s states to her: in 1647 in Vienna and in 1650 in Prague. The latter most likely served as the inspiration for the artists of the one in Kłodzko. The baroque Marian Column was an element of the extensive architectural plan of Kłodzko’s Jesuits. It presents Mary praying during the Annunciation, which was no coincidence. This was a request of its founders because the fire broke out in the city on the Annunciation holiday. The statue was therefore a votive offering for rescuing the city from the plague and the fire. The column is surrounded with a stone balustrade with a gate in the middle and four stone pedestals holding the statues of saints: Francis Xavier, Charles Borromeo, Roch, and Sebastian, who were considered to be patrons protecting from contagious diseases. There is a niche in the central point below with the lying figure of Saint Rosalia guarded by the statues of Archangel Gabriel, the Guardian Angel of the City, Saint Florian, and Saint Joseph. The most important part of the structure is the tall column with a separate pedestal holding the statue of the Virgin Mary. The balustrade was initially locked behind bars, which bore two Habsburg eagles. The bars are currently located at the Museum of the Kłodzko Land. The statue was created by local sculptor Jan Adam Bayerhoff and metalworker Jan Scholz. This is one of the oldest such structures in the region of Kłodzko.součást českého státu od 12. až do 17. století. Obzvláště krásně vypadá fontána ve večerním světle.

Nepříliš daleko od kašny, poněkud jižněji, kdysi stál městský pranýř. Byl vztyčen v letech 1551-1552, stal se z něj hlavní symbol právního řádu v Kladsku. Jak nám sdělují kroniky, provádělo se u něj mnoho trestů zmrskání. Spousta tímto způsobem potrestaných lidí, hlavně zlodějů, bylo následně navždy vyhnáno z města. Pranýř byl nakonec odstraněn na začátku 19. století. V roce 2011 se na kladském náměstí pranýř objevil znovu, přesně na tom samém místě, kde stál ve středověku. Na vrcholku pranýře v Kladsku se nachází zlodějíček s pytlem plným lupu na zádech.

Na západní straně radnice stojí mariánský sloup. Připomíná dvě tragické události, které zasáhly město. Nejdříve v roce 1676 město zasáhl strašný požár, který poškodil mnoho budov, včetně např. kladské krčmy. Následně na jaře 1680 do města dorazila epidemie moru, která za necelých deset měsíců pohltila životy 1479 jeho obyvatel. Ve snaze zabránit dalšímu neštěstí se kladští jezuité, městské úřady a Jerzy Ignacy Pachy – farář Różanky rozhodli fundovat na náměstí sloup se sochou Panny Marie. Šlo o stálý motiv využívaný v období baroka téměř v celé Evropě. První sloup tohoto typu vnikl v Římě už v roce 1614 jako fundace papeže Pavla V. Také císař Ferdinand III. Habsburský, při vyhlášení dekretu o svěření císařských zemí do péče Panně Marii, fundoval dva mariánské sloupy: v roce 1647 ve Vídni a v roce 1650 v Praze. Ten druhý se nejpravděpodobnější stal vzorem pro autory kladského pomníku. Barokní mariánský sloup tvořil součást bohatého architektonického programu kladských jezuitů. Marie je na něm zachycena jako modlící se během Zvěstování. To ale nebyla náhoda. Přáli si to fundátoři, protože požár města proběhl právě na svátek Zvěstování. Pomník byl tedy zároveň votivní dar za záchranu města před epidemií a požárem. Sloup obklopuje kamenné zábradlí s brankou uprostřed a čtyřmi kamennými podstavci, na kterých stojí svatí: František Xaverský, Karel Boromejský, Roch a Šebestián. Ti byli považováni za patrony chránící před nakažlivými nemocemi. Níže se v centrálním bodě nachází výklenek s ležící sochou sv. Rozálie, na kterou dohlížejí postavy archanděla Gabriela, anděla strážce města, svatých: Floriána a Jozefa. Nejvyšší částí této památky je vysoký sloup se samostatným podstavcem, na kterém se nachází socha Panny Marie. Zábradlí původně uzavírala mříž s dvěma habsburskými orly, která se dnes nachází v Muzeu regionu Kladska. Zhotovitelem pomníku byl kladský sochař Jan Adam Bayerhoff a tesař Jan Scholz. Jedná se o jeden z nejstarších objektů tohoto typu v regionu Kladska.

The current location of the Bank Spółdzielczy building was once home to the Tavern. Its date of origin is unclear; it may have been an old ducal tavern early on. As the oldest inn of the urban commune, it played an important role in the development of local brewing. But the Kłodzko tavern was not just an ordinary beer house. It also made considerable contributions to the city’s culture. It was the home of the city’s first secular library and a separate “gentlemen’s chamber”, which served as the workplace of the local councillors. In the 18th century, the Tavern also began to host various theatrical performances and was referred to as the “Kłodzko temple of muses”. It was here that the “local educated classes” looked for recreation, which was provided by the numerous operettas and plays. On 2 March 1881, the building hosted the general assembly of the Kłodzko Mountain Society “GLATZER GEBIRGS VEREIN”, an event commemorated by the plaque mounted on the external building elevation.