Plac Na Stawach in Kraków

Plac Na Stawach is a market square in the central part of the Zwierzyniec Peninsula (Półwsie Zwierzynieckie), in the Zwierzyniec district. It is bounded by the streets Senatorska, Bolesława Komorowskiego and Filarecka.

Origin of the name

The name recalls the fish ponds of the Zwierzyniec Norbertine sisters, known as the Zwierzyniec Pond. It was fed by a canal from a branch of the Rudawa River called Nieciecz. The ponds were filled in during the 19th century, and the square has had its name since 1912.

Life of the square

Today the square serves as a market. The annual procession of the Lajkonik passes through here, visiting the local traders and collecting a symbolic tribute from them. At the corner of the square and Senatorska Street, until 1991 there operated the bar Na Stawach, celebrated in a poem by Jerzy Harasymowicz. From 1980 the Bal na Stawach (Ball on the Ponds) was organised here: for the last time in 1995, revived in 2011 and held for the last time in 2019. The square also hosted the Mlaskoty food festival.

Close to the square is the National Museum in Kraków.

Practical information

• Location: Zwierzyniec, Kraków, between the streets Senatorska, Komorowskiego and Filarecka.
• The days and hours of trading were not checked in the sources, so it is worth confirming them before your visit.