Hotels near Cloth Hall (Sukiennice)

The Cloth Hall (Sukiennice) is the long arcaded building that runs down the middle of Main Market Square, splitting it visually into two halves. The site has been a covered trading hall since the 13th century - originally for textiles from Flanders, the Levant, and beyond - and the current Renaissance form, complete with grotesque-mask attic, is the work of Italian architect Giovanni il Mosca after the original Gothic hall burned in 1555.

The ground floor still works as a market, but the goods have changed. Today the central arcade is lined with stalls selling Polish amber jewellery, hand-carved chess sets, leather goods, lace, and embroidered linen. Prices are higher than at a neighbourhood market but the quality is reliably good, and the building itself is the real attraction.

Upstairs, the Sukiennice houses the Gallery of 19th-Century Polish Art - a National Museum branch with Matejko's monumental history paintings, Chełmoński's landscapes, and Wyspiański's portraits. The collection is small enough to see properly in an hour and fills in essential context for understanding Poland's pre-independence cultural life.

Pro Tip: Combine the Sukiennice stalls and gallery with the Rynek Underground Museum below them - all three share the Cloth Hall footprint, so a single afternoon covers all three layers of the square's history. Amber is genuine if it floats in salt water; flag-checking with the stall holder is normal practice.