History

In the second half of the 13th century, in the area of ​​the present Old Town of Piotrków Trybunalski, a regular urban grid was laid out, based on a one-bar module with a length of 3.92 m. The layout of streets and plots of land that was delineated then has survived to this day. The corner plot at No. 1 Łazienna Mokra Street / No. 2 Szewska Street was located in the very centre of the city. Łazienna Mokra Street is one of the oldest routes leading to the southern gate. It derives its name from the municipal bathhouse located next to it, thought to have existed since the 15th century. Szewska Street, perpendicular to it, obviously took its name from the shoemakers’ shops located along the route. The principal block of the townhouse at the edge of the corner plot probably dates back to the 16th century. It is one of the oldest patrician residences in the city. It is thought to have been altered in the 18th century. It contained flats and merchant warehouses.

According to a local legend, Queen Bona hid her treasures in that very townhouse. It was also where she was attacked by robbers.

A sketch of the building from the end of the 18th century shows a corner townhouse located along Szewska Street, with its gable facing Łazienna Mokra Street. It was a two-storey building covered with a high, gable roof with a Baroque top.

After the fire which swept through Piotrków in 1865, clean-up works were performed hastily and some of the damaged structures were never rebuilt. According to the preserved inventory of the townhouse from 1989, there was still a high, gable roof and a profiled under-eaves cornice, while the ornamentation of plinths and pilaster capitals were still present on the elevations. The inventory taken in the 1920s mentions the original main portal with decorative corbels supporting the lintels, profiled window cornices and pilaster heads.

The renovation of the townhouse was carried out after 1989.

Nowadays, the townhouse at No. 2 Szewska Street houses the Brewery Education Centre.

Description

The townhouse is located in the Old Town of Piotrków Trybunalski, in the south-west corner of the Old Market Square, at the intersection of Łazienna Mokra Street (in the western frontage of that street) and Szewska Street (in the southern frontage of the street).

Due to the time of its construction, the townhouse should be classified as Baroque, yet it lacks details representative of that or any other style.

It was erected on a floor plan of a rectangle elongated along the east-west axis. The gable-end elevation (western) serves as the façade.

The townhouse was built from bricks laid with lime mortar. On the ground floor, there is a barrel vault with lunettes. On the first floor, the ceiling is made of wood. The corner part is covered with a three-hipped roof and the western part is topped with a gable roof.

The staircase is made of brick, with wooden steps. The window and door openings are rectangular, with brick lintels.

There are ceramic floors on the ground floor and plank floors on the first floor.

The two-storey elevations are set on a high, smoothly plastered plinth, painted in a burgundy colour. On the ground floor level, the walls are covered with rusticated plasterwork. The storeys are separated by a string course. At the height of the second storey, the openings are arranged against the background of smoothly plastered walls. On both storeys, the walls are painted with pastel pink paint. The walls are topped with a profiled under-eaves cornice. In the western (front) wall, there are four axes on the ground floor and three on the second storey. On each storey, the wall is divided into three unequal sections by pilasters with white smooth shafts. On the ground floor, against the background of a narrower central section, there is a rectangular doorway topped with a segmental arch. Over the doorway, there is a section of profiled cornice. Above, there is a small square window opening, enclosed by stucco scroll-like volutes and a pediment with a shape resembling a section of a circle. To the left of the front door, there is a small door leading to the cellar. The door is topped with a section of profiled cornice. The outer axes of the elevation are accented by the window openings with a square-like outline. They are enclosed with white profiled frames. Under each opening, there is a window sill formed by a section of profiled cornice. Each window consists of two wings divided into two sections. Above the cornice, there are three axes accented by the rectangular window openings. The windows are enclosed with profiled frames. Under each window, there is a sill formed by a section of profiled cornice. There is another section of the profiled cornice in the finial. There are jambed, two-wing, double windows. Each wing is divided into three sections. Under the cornice running under the eaves, there are composite capitals atop of the pilasters.

There are nine axes in the southern elevation. On the ground floor, in the third axis from the east, there is a rectangular door opening enclosed with a profiled frame. The door is wooden, panelled, two-wing, with a fanlight. The other axes are accented by the window openings. The three windows on the east-facing side are surrounded by profiled frames. Under each window, there is a sill formed by a cornice section. There is another section of the profiled cornice in the finial. The other windows are surrounded by profiled frames, with a sill formed by a cornice section. The windows are two-wing, coupled. Each wing is divided into three sections. On the first floor, the windows are framed with profiled frames, with a sill in the form of a cornice section. There are jambed, two-wing, double windows. Each wing is divided into three sections. In the third, fifth and sixth axes, there are blind window openings surrounded by a profiled frame.

The building houses the Brewery Education Centre.

Compiled by Agnieszka Lorenc-Karczewska, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Łódź 24 April 2020

Bibliography

• Głowacki K., Urbanistyka Piotrkowa Trybunalskiego, Piotrków Trybunalski – Kielce 1984.
• Głowacki K., Dylematy rewaloryzacji piotrkowskiego Starego Miasta [in:] Ochrona Zabytków 43/2 (169), pp. 59-66.