Zelný trh, Market square in Brno, Czech Republic

Zelný trh is a market square in the historic centre of Brno, Czech Republic. It has a roughly rectangular shape on a slope just below Petrov, with a large open area used for market stalls and several historic buildings around its edges.

The marketplace began in the 13th century as the Upper Market and took its current name in the 15th century. In the late 1940s, a covered market hall was built on the site of houses destroyed during the Second World War, changing the square's historic appearance.

Locals often call the square Zelňák, a nickname you will hear in everyday conversation. The market is a daily meeting point where people shop for fresh produce and flowers, and the small food stalls around it serve as informal gathering spots.

The square is easy to reach on foot from the city centre, and its slope means you will walk uphill or downhill depending on your direction. Most market activity happens in the morning, so come early for the best choice of produce and a quieter experience.

In 1841, a professor of physics and mathematics named Bedřich Franz took what is likely the oldest surviving reportage daguerreotype in the Czech lands from a window of the Reduta theatre on the square. Beneath the square, a network of medieval cellars opened to the public in 2011 after a major reconstruction.