Linz Main Square

The Hauptplatz was laid out around 1230 as a market square and measures roughly two hundred and twenty metres by sixty, which puts it among the largest enclosed squares in central Europe, closed on all four sides by baroque and Renaissance façades over medieval cores. The Dreifaltigkeitssäule of 1723, a twenty-metre marble column, stands in the middle - one of the plague columns put up across the Habsburg lands in thanks for deliverance from plague, fire and Turkish invasion, the three named on its inscription. The old town hall is on the north side. Trams cross the square, which keeps it a working part of the city rather than a museum piece, and markets, the Christmas market and public events occupy it through the year. Mozart wrote the Linz symphony in a house on it.

What you actually see

• A 220-metre square - among the largest enclosed squares in central Europe.
• The Trinity column - the 1723 marble plague column at the centre.
• Baroque fronts on medieval cores - the four closed sides of the square.
• Trams through the middle - a working square rather than a pedestrian set piece.

When to go

All year; December for the Christmas market. An hour or two.

Honest expectations

Trams and traffic cross it constantly, which surprises people expecting a quiet plaza. Events cover the square for much of the year. The buildings are seen from outside.

Nearby

The Danube and the Ars Electronica Center are across the bridge; the Landstrasse runs south.