Kirschgarten, Medieval square in Mainz, Germany
Kirschgarten is a square in central Mainz lined with half-timbered houses that rise three to four stories and feature carved wooden ornaments on their facades. A sandstone fountain at the center of the square is topped with a Madonna figure.
The square was laid out in the 13th century as part of a planned extension of Mainz known as the Nova Civitas, within the Cathedral Chapter's protected zone. The buildings around it were rebuilt and refaced several times between the 15th and 18th centuries.
The carved wooden details on the facades around Kirschgarten include guild symbols that point to the trades once active in this part of Mainz. Walking slowly around the square, visitors can read these marks as a kind of open record of the crafts that shaped the neighborhood.
The square is easy to reach on foot from the center of Mainz, and several bus lines stop nearby. It is open at all times and works well as a stop along a walk through the old town.
The house known as Zum Beimburg at number 19 has three separate facades, the result of it merging with neighboring buildings over time. It also carries the bakers' guild emblem dated 1657, one of the more legible craft marks still visible on the square.
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