Main City

Main City (Polish: Główne Miasto, German: Rechtstadt) is the central, historic part of Gdańsk's borough of Śródmieście.

Unlike the Old Town and the New Town, the area was rebuilt after World War II and includes some of the city's best known historical monuments, including the St. Mary's basilica, Golden Gate, Artus Court, Main City Hall, the Royal Road, Long Lane and Long Market.

In 19th century many houses in the largely mediaeval and renaissance part of Gdańsk received new, Gothic revival façades in line with a trend in Germany tying this style to "German spirit".

[2] However, instead of reconstructing the city to the way it looked immediately before World War II, various landmarks were restored to historical and quasi-historical forms alluding to their renaissance look,[7] in order to underline the city's ties with Poland,[2][8] but also to emphasize Gdańsk's rich multi-cultural tradition, with Flemish, Italian and French influences.

[8] In addition, Polish architects got rid of the largely mediaeval dense urban fabric and reconstructed mostly the façades along the main streets, while annexes, second and third rows of houses with their courtyards were replaced by larger open spaces, in line with contemporary understanding of urban planning.