Poznań – a city by the Warta river. The capitol of Greater Poland, the voivodeship of Greater Poland, the archdiocese of Poznań. An important place on the Piast Route.
House under the canopy
The house on the Old Market Square, number 59, has an interesting history.
During the XVI-th century it belonged to Jan Wyleżyński Reszka. He is the author of the oldest family chronicle in the Polish language. It is titled Wypisanie pana Jana Wyleżyńskiego resztki dziatek. But this is actually not the reason why it catches attention of tourists. It is because of the old, non-official story of how the building has got it’s name.
Few centuries ago the king Augustus the Second (1670-1733) visited Poznań stopping there during one of his royal trips. In this house people arranged a huge feast for him. After drinking way too much alcohol, the king decided to take some fresh air so he went to the window and looked through it. His attention was drawn by a really beautiful local girl walking by the street below. He could not take his eyses off her and that is why he fall through the window. Thankfully, there was a canopy just above the main entrance wchich saved him from death. This is the reason why the building is now called the House under the canopy.
There is also another fascinating fact about that place. Next to the door we can see the plaque showing us a level of the biggest flood in the city from 1736. According to the city chronicle, people could literally sail on boats through the Old Market Square at that time.