source: polskaniezwykla.pl

We admire Sandomierz with its well-preserved medieval town layout. We admire Kazimierz Dolny. Because it’s medieval. Meanwhile, Czaplinek was brought to life in 1286 by Premyslas II, the Duke of Greater Poland, when he brought Knights Templar here. Czaplinek was granted the municipal charter in 1291, less than 40 years later than Cracow.

In Czaplinek, as one of very few towns, there remains the medieval town layout, still clear and easily visible. The central point of the city is the rectangular market square, 80 meters long and 65 meters wide, situated at the foot of a small rise, on which there is the oldest church in the Czaplinek region - the Holy Trinity Church.
The remaining streets in Chaplinek form a regular net that was characteristic of medieval urban layout. The buildings around the market square come mostly from the 19th century, but here and there you could perhaps find fragments of older ones, from the 18th century, built after the great fire of 1765. As a rule, old buildings were constructed of wattle and daub, and often plastered. Some tenement houses can boast beautiful decorative ornaments; the most interesting ones include the buildings on the western frontage of the market square as well as the town hall and the neighboring tenement house, and some of the houses situated along Sikorski Street. The eastern side of the market square is closed by the impressive Exaltation of the Holy Cross Church. In the vicinity of the market square, in Studzienna Street (especially at number 2), and in the front section of Wałecka Street there are also well-preserved old, historic buildings.
The most characteristic element od the market square is the wooden statue of Paweł Wasznik, a fisherman, who according to the Chronicle of Jan Długosz, helped the Polish knights under King Jagiełło to take the castle in Drahim. Across the market square there is a huge metal bicycle - a visible sign that several bicycle trail, whose combined lenght is more than 600 kilometers, begin in Czaplinek.