Cloth hall

Cloth halls were built from medieval times into the 18th century.

A cloth hall contained trading stalls for the sale, particularly, of cloth but also of leather, wax, salt, and exotic imports such as silks and spices.

There were linen halls in other towns such as Castlebar (which includes Linenhall Arts Centre) and Clonakilty.

Examples of German Gewandhäuser can be found in the towns of Brunswick, Zwickau, and Leipzig.

In Poland, the most famous existing cloth-hall building is Kraków's Cloth Hall (Sukiennice), rebuilt in 1555 in Renaissance style.