Toruń of Nicholas Copernicus

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History of Toruń 

The city was founded on 28 December 1233. Toruń was originally located by a crossing on the Vistula River – in Old Toruń. There, the Teutons built their first settlement in the Land of Chełmno - according to a legend – on a mighty oak, and then located a town, which was soon relocated to its present site in 1236 r due to recurrent floods.

The settling in the today’s Old Town area began in the region of so called “Island”, a developed area between the streets: Szeroka, Żeglarska and Łazienna, with a square around st. John church. The "Isle" is supposed to have been a defensive post, surrounded by a rampart which shielded first settlers from occasional dangers. Later on, when bulwarks and subsequently town walls were built, the "Island" lost its defensive role, the ground was levelled and new houses were built to become welcome lodgings for the richest merchants and councillors – as they were located close to the Market.

The city grew fast but in stages. The first site to be constructed was the southern part of the Old Town – around the "Island". The main transport route was the street nowadays called Kopernika (then st. Ann), which led towards the crossing in Old Toruń. Soon, it turned out that localising a town in this spot was such a successful investment, that it needed instant development to accommodate all the merchants coming from Silesia, bordering Polish lands and even from distant Westphalia and Lubeck – centres of Hanseatic league and of trade on the Baltic Sea.

Thus, after 1251 a Marketplace was localised to become the centre of the town and town walls encompassed franciscan monastery and church which used to be outside the town. Soon, in 1264, a new urban centre – the New Town - was founded. Contrary to the Old Town dominated by merchants and the richest artisans - brewers, bakers and butchers, the New Town was intended to be a centre of Toruń’s handcraft. The medieval town was ruled by four great guilds – brewers, tanners, cloth merchants and furriers. In the second half of XIII century and in XIV century monumental buildings were erected – the Town Hall and st. Johns, st. Mary and st. Jacob churches. Also in this period most of apartment houses in Toruń received their brick walls.

Numerous construction undertakings and influx of people stimulated development of crafts necessary to satisfy the growing needs. First Toruń mills probably operated near the castle under total control of Teutonic knights.
As early as in 1259 a mill was opened in suburban Trzeposz. Toruń would not come into being without its brickyards. As early as in XIII century a Teutonic brick-yard was build by the “Struga Toruńska” stream, and probably at the same time or not much later a least 3 subsequent municipal brickyards were constructed by the Vistula River. The town was surrounded by suburbs where poorer craftsmen lived. These were wheelwrights, potters, blacksmiths, bee-keepers and porters – names of their professions were reflected in names of streets which do not exist today. A harbour, which at least till the end of XIV century was a sea port, functioned on the Vistula River, next to it – near the Monastery Gate – functioned a shipyard which built smaller vessels suited for river trade. Vineyards belonging to the richest merchants were located on the Vistula River terraces between the town and a village of Kaszczorek. The whole complex (town and suburbs), in its period of prosperity in late XIV century, was populated by some 20,000 citizens. The town, at least till mid XIV century, was a member of the association of Hanseatic Towns and was even the leader of the group of Prussian towns.

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