EN
The study of the development of the market square at Żelechów offers an example how to develop a market square in a small town with a town-hall situated in the centre. Żelechów is a town in Siedlce voivodship. The first mentions o f Żelechów date back to the 13th century. A baroque church from 1741 and a clasicist palace built in 1762—1790 have preserved their original form until to-day. The centre o f Żelechów’s layout is a market square o f 110 x 110 m. Four main streets come out from the centres of market frontages and at the intersection of their axes there stands a clasicist town-hall from the turn o f the 18th and 19th centuries. The view of the town-hall has the form of a quadrangle with a square courtyard. The ground floor held originally 4 vestibules corresponding to four streets in the middle of the frontages and a number of vaulted quarters which used to be market stalls. Huge enscarpments flanking the eastern elevation were added in ca 1914. Market frontages are made of wooden and bricked houses from different periods: one can find there 19th-century buildings of historic merit, buildings which represent examples of traditional construction, contemporary buildings which play either commercial or living-in functions as well as dwelling and other houses with no major historic values. All houses are one- or two-storeyed. The market square is stone paved. There is not much high verdure there. The aims of the market’s development scheme are as follows: — to restore to the market its old function by arranging the market and its partial roofing, — to add buildings which will have a similar character and scale as the existing ones, ' — to make a parking lot for cars and to choose the most convenient place for long-distance buses (the so-called PKS buses); at present the bus station is situated in the town-hall; correspondigly, to assign one part of the market for cars, — to plant more trees inside of building blocks surrounding the market square and also to plant rather big but extensive flower- beds (15 x 15 m) on the market square, — to use different kinds of material to pave the market. The market’s floor might be made of three materials: flag stones, granite cobbles and road clinker. Road clinker should be arranged in belts square with market frontages running from the corners of the town-hall’s walls and emphasizing the axiality of the market demarkated by streets. Part o f the market assigned for a parking lot is planned to be made of granite, while its recreational part — o f flag stones. The final result of the works is shown on the drawing ,,The Market’s Region — a Design Study”, which, according to the author, shows the best functional and compositional development of the market.