Many European cities can boast of two town halls. As a rule, it is an old town hall built in the Middle Ages and a new one for making all significant decisions in the city nowadays.

Gdansk, rich in historical sites, can boast of three town halls at once. The leading one is the Gdansk Main Town Hall located on Dlugi Targ. The exact construction date is unknown, unlike the creator, the famous Flemish architect Anthonis van Obbergen. Supposedly, the building was erected in the period from 1379 to 1488 when another master Henryk Hetzel updated it with a Gothic tower. As a result of a severe fire in the middle of the 16th century, it underwent significant changes. The town hall took over the features of then-fashionable Mannerism and got a new tall spire decorated with a gilded statue of King Sigismund II Augustus of Poland. At that time, the town hall acquired a 14-bell carillon created by the talented Dutch master Johannes Moor.

The town hall owes its present-day interior, combining the austerity of Polish architecture and delicate elements of Dutch Mannerism, to several masters: Valentin Trost, Lonhardt Diele, Andreas Stange, Simon Sperling. Three halls, the Great Council Room (Red Room), the Small Council Room (Winter Room), and the Great Weta Room (White Room), deserve particular attention. The Red Room displays works of the well-known representative of the golden age in Polish art, Isaak van den Blocke. Here, you can also see his most famous picture named Apotheosis of Gdansk and listen to the entrancing sounds of an old organ.

Today, the Main Town Hall houses a cultural center, a small comfy pub, and a traditional Gdansk restaurant. But the main reason for visiting the town hall is a fascinating view of the historical city center and the legendary medieval Royal Way, opening up from the observation deck.