The monument features a bronze statue of Renaissance astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (Polish: Mikołaj Kopernik) holding a compass and armillary sphere.

Polish clergy refused to attend the ceremonies as his book had been condemned by the Holy Office in 1616.

[5] The east face of the pedestal bears the inscription, "Nicolo Copernico Grata Patria" (Latin: "To Nicolaus Copernicus [from a] Grateful Nation"), and the west face—"Mikołajowi Kopernikowi Rodacy" (Polish: "To Mikołaj Kopernik [from his] compatriots").

[6] During World War II, the Copernicus monument was the focus of a notable "minor-sabotage" operation by the Polish underground.

[2] In 2007 a bronze representation of Copernicus' Solar System, modelled after an image in his De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, was placed on the square in front of the monument.