Śródka District and the 'Śródka Tale' 3D Mural

Śródka is a small former town on the right bank of the Warta in Poznań, now a revived district of restored tenements, cafes and galleries, and its best-known sight is the 'Śródka Tale' 3D mural on Rynek Śródecki. People come to stand in front of the trompe-l'oeil painting, which recreates the neighbourhood's streetscape of about a century ago and hides playful details for visitors to spot, then to wander the quiet cobbled streets nearby.

Completed in 2015 to a design by Radosław Barek, the mural covers a large wall on Rynek Śródecki and uses trompe-l'oeil perspective to make the painted buildings appear to stand in real space. The scene rebuilds Śródka as it looked roughly a hundred years ago, and the fun is in finding the details worked into it. Look for a cat and a trumpeter on a roof, a historic butcher's shop, and a portrait of Duke Władysław Odonic, the man credited with founding Śródka. It rewards a slow look rather than a quick photo.

Śródka was an independent town from the 15th century until 1800, when it was absorbed into Poznań, which is why it still feels like a place apart from the streets across the river. Its roots reach back further, to around 1234, when Duke Władysław Odonic founded the settlement, hence his portrait hidden in the mural. The painting is a deliberate nod to that long past, recreating the district's own historic look rather than a generic scene. It has become a much-photographed symbol of Śródka's renewal.

Śródka works well for anyone who likes walking a compact district on foot, and it suits families because the hidden figures in the mural give children something to search for. The area is small, so a short visit covers the square, the mural and a coffee stop, while a longer stroll takes in the restored tenements and galleries around the cobbled streets. There is no ticket for the mural itself, as it sits on an open square. For opening times of individual cafes or galleries, check their own channels before you go.

Śródka sits just across the water from Cathedral Island (Ostrów Tumski), so it pairs naturally with a visit to Poznań Cathedral and the oldest part of the city. Many people cross between the two on foot and treat Śródka as the relaxed, cafe-lined end of the walk. From here the Old Town and the Old Market Square lie a short distance west across the river. See our Poznań guide for how the districts connect and what to see nearby.